Phoenix Gang
by Emerald Penguin
Summary: The leader of the most revered criminal gang in the world has come to St. Trinians, and that's the good news. Geoffrey is on the war path and won't be happy until he has brought down the girls the beat and humiliated him once and for all. Flash/Kelly
1. Chapter 1

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Dear K & Co.

Congrats on your latest 'project'. It was endeavor worthy of the phoenix gang, (except how would we have gotten on school challenge? lol) It was a very neat job, I almost didn't notice it was you. Almost. Congratulate the girls and Flash for me, (I know he must have helped). I have a surprise for you that will be arriving two weeks after this letter. Say "hi" to Andrea, Taylor, the twins and Miss F for me. Send Flash my love and tell him to meet me at the station at 08:00 in tow weeks time to pick up my surprise.

Love and chaos,

J

Kelly stared down at the letter. The dorm room was silent as all the girls waited to hear the what the letter said, the letter that bore the emblem of the famous phoenix gang.

"Kells?" Tanya nervously broke the silence, "what does it say?"

Kelly looked around at the anxious faces of the other girls, waiting, watching. "Its from Jazz," she began hesitantly, "she says well done on the theft of the girl with the pearl earing, she has a surprise for us; it'll be here in two weeks."

Shouts and laughter erupted around the room: praise from the leader of the phoenix gang! This was almost as good as the time they had dared a drunk matron to abseil down the side of the school. Almost everyone surged towards the door, egger to celebrate this latest success with loud music and lots of alcohol. Soon only Adrea, the twins, Taylor, the posh totties, Annabell, Polly and Celia remained with Kelly.

No one seemed to know what to say so Annabell decided to voice her own thoughts, "Errm, guys, whats the phoenix gang and who's Jazz?"

For a moment no one answered then Polly spoke up; "The phoenix gang is an group of criminals that operate on the black market, illegal import and export, selling stolen goods, stealing those goods, blackamail, fraud, you name it they've done it."

"But they aren't just any old criminals," cut in Taylor, "They are the biggest and most influential group in Europe because they never get caught. Never."

"Jazz, short for Jasmin, is the leader of the group, she keeps everyone in line, organizes the jobs and makes sure no one gets caught. She came to St, Trinians originally but left just over a year ago when the last leader of the gang, her aunt, died. " added Chelsea

"She's brilliant!!" shouted Tanya and Tara.

"She's my cousin," Kelly had spoken so quietly that Annabell wasn't sure if she had heard right but the excitment on Kelly's face and in her voice was unmistakable, "and she's coming to visit."

The twins immediately began shrieking and jumping up and down, hugging everyone in sight. Taylor and Andrea looked scarcely less excited. Kelly just sat on her bed with a small smile fixed on her face, slowly getting wider as if it was only just beginning to sink in.

"Flash will be pleased!" smirked Taylor, ducking when Kelly threw a pillow at her.

"What do you mean?" asked Peaches, looking perplexed.

"Well Jazz has been trying to get Flash and Kells together for almost as long as he has, and she's a lot more subtle and less inclined to let Kelly shoot her ideas down in flames then Flash is." giggled Taylor at the sight of Kelly slowly blushing bright red. "Last time she locked the two of you in the dorm, alone for three hours didn't she? What exactly happened in there Kelly?"

This time the pillow hit its mark and Taylor was hit squarely in the face by Kelly's missile.


	2. Chapter 2

"FLASH!!!!!"

Flash looked up to see who had called him when Kelly, who had been running towards him, threw herself into his arms and hugging him tightly, her breathe softly tickling his ear as she laughed quietly; a happiness she couldn't seem to keep in.

Flash had dropped the bottles of the twins vodka that he had been holding in order to catch Kelly and the liquid was now splashed across the floor, but Flash didn't mind, he lowered his head slightly and breathed in deeply the scent that was uniquely Kelly, no, he didn't mind at all.

"Flash it's brilliant!" declared Kelly, pulling back slightly to look at him straight on, but not totally letting him go, "I got a letter from Jazz; she's coming to visit! You will pick her up won't you Flash, I could send someone else but she asked for you. She trusts you. You will won't you Flash, please."

Flash rolled his eyes, amused by the way that Kelly's excitement about the arrival of her cousin had caused her to forget about her usual air of confidence, "When have I ever said no to you Kells?" he asked smiling down lazily at her.

She smiled back, while she had been unnecessarily worrying about whether Flash would help she had kept her eyes down, but in finally looking up at him, she found him grinning at her with that grin of his that she loved so much. _"No," _she quickly corrected her thoughts, _"that smile I __**like**__, not love."_

Embarrassed by her mental slip up, Kelly pulled any, trying to regain composure.

"Thanks Flash," she said brusquely, but noticing the hurt look on his face added in softer tones, "I really appreciate everything you do for us all, you know that, right?"

Suddenly, Flash had closed the distance between them and was standing with his face very close to hers. He leaned in slightly, his lips ghosting across hers before he whispered in her ear, "I don't do it for 'you all' though Kelly, I do it for you, you know that, right?"

With that he turned and stalked out of the room, leaving Kelly, standing, frozen to the spot, her hand resting on her lips, where his had been only moments before.

Whistling to himself as he climbed into his most recently acquired car, Flash grinned at the thought of a visit from the whirlwind of chaos, energy and exuberant excitement that was Jazz.

She had the business and criminal capability of an adult with years of experience but the mental age of a seven year old, her love for a good scheme was over balanced only by her love of all things loaded with sugar and sweeteners. Flash had once heard Taylor swear that the girl had become hyper on cheese on toast. But this sugar sweet face was only one of her many sides, fiercely loyal to friends and family but a grim opponent for those who came up against her. Her inner seven year old had the most spectacular temper tantrums, for her temper as fiery as her red hair and phoenix emblem.

He was looking forward to picking her up; there was no way she could be planning a quite entrance. He just hoped whatever she had planned didn't damage his car too badly.

*

The days preceding Jazz's arrival were busy to say the least, although chaotic would have been more accurate. Kelly hadn't seen Flash since the sort-of-almost-kiss, since, she told herself, she hadn't kissed him back. _"I wish I had though."_ she had caught herself thinking a number of times, but had pushed the thought to the back of her head and hadn't said a word about it to anyone. It wasn't as though she liked him. Of course she didn't. She couldn't. He was Flash Harry and she was Head girl! She didn't mix business with pleasure. Ever.

"He deserves better than me anyway," she had muttered to herself several times, over the past few years, whenever she had been close to giving in to his advances. Not that she believed it. Not that anyone else did either, especially not him.

He was just a useful guy to have around. That was the only reason she kept stringing him along; not because she like the attention, but because the school needed him to stick around. _"I need him to stick around." _she thought truthfully, actually being honest with herself for once.

Luckily, there was still a lot of work to be done, covering up all the loose ends from their heist at the British Art Gallery, not leaving her much time to think about Flash.

At least Jazz would soon be here. It would be good to see her again, it had been far to long.


	3. Chapter 3

A dark blue car pulled up outside the station, a large passenger train had just arrived and there were a lot of people about milling about. Flash pushed open the door and climbed out, removing his sunglasses to better scan the many faces for the one familiar one. Moving away from the car he went to lean against the brick wall of the brick wall around the station car-park.

Hearing a shriek from the crowd he turned to see the source of the noise and noticed a large group of people had stopped to stare up at the wall. Following their lead he took a step back to look up at the wall, which was several feet taller than him, to see a petite figure with fiery red hair turning cartwheels along the top of the wall.

"Oi Jazz," he hollered up at her, grinning widely, "can't you ever go for the subtle approach?"

Pausing upside down, mid cartwheel, she fixed her midnight blue eyes on Flash. Righting herself she called back, "Where would be the fun in that?!?!"

Laughing loudly he shouted again, "Ok you win, now get down here, your cousin'll kill me if anything 'appens to you!!"

Flash winced as Jazz casually stepped off the wall and fell the considerable distance to the ground, landing cat-like on her feet.

"Happy now?" she asked, smirking at the expression on his face; Flash could suddenly understand why Adrea hated heights so much. Jazz flicked her fringe to the side slightly so she could see more clearly. She had grown quite a bit since Flash had seen her last, although she was still rather short for her age, now about the height of Kelly's shoulders. He was pretty sure she was a few months older than Kells, which would make her around seventeen now and her pale skin had finally lost the freckles that had decorated her cheeks when she was younger. She wore a patchwork poncho that contained every colour of the rainbow over a pair of black, drainpipe skinny jeans, the bottom of which were encased in a pair of knee-high, purple, platform boots. All in all her appearance was startling enough to stop traffic

Laughing again, Jazz charged at Flash, jumping up to rap her arms around his neck as he span her round a few times before putting her down and directing her towards the car . Jazz shrieked indigently and glared at Flash, "You brought that monstrosity! You could have borrowed Kelly's car, at least its red! "

"Stop moaning or I'll make you ride on the roof!" he threatened jokingly.

Suddenly the complaints stopped, "Now there's an idea." pondered Jazz.

"No way!" exclaimed Flash, "I was joking!"

"Pretty please!!"

*

Kelly sat nervously in the downstairs common room, looking out the window across the drive. From here she had the best view of arrivals to the school and the quickest route to the front door.

"Chill out Kells." instructed Taylor, flopping into the chair next to Kelly, "They'll be here soon and we can all laugh over whatever nuts entrance they use."

"What do you mean?" asked Annabell, finishing off applying her vivid lipstick.

"Well Jazz likes things to go off with a bang almost as much as the twins do. Its one of the reasons she like Flash so much; cos he always agrees to her hair brained schemes!" laughed Taylor, looking relieved that Kelly looked a little bit happier.

"What's that noise?" Polly had suddenly looked up from her book and stood up to open the window.

With everyone quiet and the window open you could clearly hear a loud music that was slowly getting closer.

"I know this song!" squealed Tanya excitedly, "It's Jazz's favourite!" finished Tara.

"Paradise by the Dashboard light," confirmed Andrea.

"They're here," breathed Kelly.

There was a flurry of movement as everyone charged out to the front of the school to greet the arrivals. They got there just in time to see the car that Flash was driving swerve round the corner at such high speeds that it took the next few meters with only two of its wheel on the floor.

"Oh dear God, he let her drive." whispered Kelly, her eyes shining with amusement as she saw Flash's expression of pure terror through the windscreen.

*

"_Why, oh why did I let her drive?"_ Was the only coherent thought Flash could put together as the the wheels on his side of the car left the ground as Jazz sped round the corner onto the St. Trinians driveway. She could have ridden on the roof, she could have done the bloody can-can on it for all he cared, but no, he had to insist on her ridding **in **and the only way that was going to happen was if she drove.

As the car finally slowed to a stop, the world stopped spinning and Flash was able to spot the faces of several girls waiting for them out side the school for them. At the front of the group, was Kelly. He concentrated very hard on calming his heart, which seemed to speed up every time he saw her, and stepped out of the car, staggering slightly after Jazz's insane driving.

Locking eyes with Kelly, he called over, "Your cousin is a maniac!" Before fishing a bottle of the twins vodka out of his pocket and taking a sip to try and calm his nerves.

Looking away from Flash, Kelly saw that the maniac in question had climbed out of the car and was looking between her and Flash with an all too knowing expression on her face, causing some of the girls to laugh. On noticing that she had Kelly's attention at last, her face split into a huge grin and charged at her, hugging her tightly before she was attacked by the twins who buried her in hugs of their own.

After the excited twins had been peeled off Jazz, Andrea and Taylor quickly enveloped her in hugs of their own, though they were much shorter as neither of the older girls were very fond of soppy shows of emotion.

After a brief greeting from Polly, who welcomed her business woman to business woman, Jazz scanned the crowd. Annabell had stood a little back from the rest of the group, egger to meet the famously infamous cousin of Kelly Jones. On noticing her, Jazz walked forward to meet her.

"You must be Annabell," Jazz held out a hand for Annabell to shake, "I heard about you. Verity Thwaits; mild concussion. Good job!"

Surprised but pleased that she had Jazz's approval already, Annabell smiled widely and shook Jazz's offered hand.

Kelly looked happily across at Jazz as she began chatting animatedly with Flash, Annabell and Taylor, she had been worried that the time they had spent apart would have changed Jazz and was glad to see her much the same as before, if a little taller. Flash caught Kelly's eye cross the group and gave her a reassuring smile, yes, everything was perfect now.


	4. Chapter 4

Despite the fact that all the girls shared a room anyway, Jazz had insisted on making it an "official" sleepover by dragging ship loads of bedding into one of the second floor common rooms for the girls to sleep on. The result was heaps of haphazardly scattered pillows and blankets across a floor freshly tiled with the girls' mattresses. Although over half of the girls had opted to stay in the main dorm (relishing the rare moment of peace), there were still around fifty people lying willy-nilly around the room. Although Jazz didn't drink (as she claimed that no amount of fun the night before could be worth the hangover the next morning), she was more than prepared with the substitute of sugar high rather than getting drunk. Consequently the come down from the high had hit most of the girls hard and were fast asleep; for although the girls of St. Trinian's had a remarkable alcohol tolerance levels, the sugar still hit them hard.

The few girls who had gotten over their original sugar rush and were still awake were huddled in the corner chatting quietly. Jazz, who was well practiced in consuming ridiculous amount of sugary sweetness, was sat in the corner, propped up on half a dozen pillows with a bottle of grenadine in one hand and a teaspoon in the other, pouring out measure after measure of the incredibly sweet and sickly syrup into her spoon and sucking thoughtfully on it. Next to her sat the Posh Totties. Chelsea was the only one awake; Chloe and Peaches were slumped against their friend with their heads resting on her shoulders. On her other side were Andrea and Taylor, who were only partly visible; both were hidden beneath a pile of pillows as they attempted to pelt each other with rainbow drops without being covered in them themselves. Polly had lasted a little longer than most but her system was unused to such high quantities of sugar and was now snoring quietly, leaving Kelly as the final member of the 'awake in the corner group' as the twins had dubbed them before falling asleep in the center of the circle.

"Truth or dare! Truth or dare! Truth or dare!" sung Taylor quietly under her breathe, an evil look on her face.

"I'm too tired for dares!" complained Andrea, reaching across the floor to grab another can of coke, hoping the caffeine would wake her up a bit.

Huffing and rolling her eyes, Taylor turned to the emo next to her, "Don't be such a wimp Morticia! You scared the we might make you do something cool for once?"

Andrea's normally pale completion flushed red at Taylor's remark and shedding the pillows that had been protecting her from Taylor's rainbow drops the emo launched herself at the chav giggling in a slightly hysterical fashion as she stole Jazz's bottle of grenadine and emptied the entire contents down the front of Taylor's Pj's. Shrieking like a person possessed Taylor pulled the lolly she had been eating out of her mouth and stuck it in the middle of Andrea's extensions, causing her to splutter in disgust as she tried to remove the lolly without removing half of her hair.

Their sugar induced fight looked set to reach new levels when Kelly cut in, "Knock it off you two, Taylor: the lolly thing was gross but Andrea, the grenadine was worse. Taylor why don't you start, truth or dare someone."

Turning quickly to Andrea, Taylor put on an innocent smile that scared Andrea more than her angry face and said, "I dare you to climb the curtains and touch the rail at the top."

Everyone's eyes darted over to the curtains and back to Andrea, whole now resembled a sheet of paper in colour, "But is really high," she squeaked out.

Taylor started to wave her arms about and make chicken noises. With a final glare at Taylor, Andrea huffed loudly and stalked over to the curtains and gave them a nervous tug. Glancing back at the group who were still watching her, she quickly realized that no one was going to step in to save her from her horrible fate, though Kelly offered a small nod of encouragement. Gathering the curtain together to make it more like a rope she began to pull herself up, using her toes to grip the curtain with and her arms to pull herself up.

"Don't look down, just don't look down," she muttered to herself, "You'll be fine if you don't look down." Burying her face in the folds of material, Andrea reached a hand out above her, searching for the curtain rail. Her finger tips brushed against the wooden pole but she couldn't quite reach it. She knew Taylor would never let her live it down if she didn't complete the dare but vertigo was making her horribly light headed. Deciding it would be best to get it over and done with she threw herself upwards, her right hand snatching hold of the rail, but the force of her jump caused her foot to rip right through the curtain and the sound of ripping fabric had sent the girls below into a panic.

"Oh my God!!" yelled Chelsea, for once forgetting her accompanying hand gestures.

Taylor, terrified that Andrea was going to fall, rushed forward, tripping over the twin's sleeping forms, crying out, "Don't fall Andrea! Oh my god! Don't die!"

Andrea had been just fine throughout this, but on hearing Taylor's outburst began to laugh so hard that she lost her grip on the curtain rail and tumbled down, landing on Taylor who was sprawled out on the floor after tripping over the now very awake twins.

"Maybe we'll just stick to truth for now." suggested a slightly pale Jazz.

"I think that's a good idea," agreed Kelly.

"Oh my turn!" examined Andrea, scrambling off Taylor and back into the circle. Turning to Jazz with an evil smile on her face, "Was it your idea to pretend to sell the Eiffel Tower to that fat American bloke, then refuse to give him his money back when the French government told him that it couldn't be bought?"

A massive grin broke across Jazz's slightly sticky face, "Pass me that tin of golden syrup and I'll tell you how much he paid!"

After a few seconds of smothering laughter in pillows, Jazz struggled before finally snapping the lid off her syrup and looked around the group, "Right, my turn."

*

Flash's POV

Flash pulled his jacket more tightly around him. He was unused to entering St. Trinian's on foot but Jazz had insisted in her text that he wasn't to make a sound arriving and his car made too much noise. Using the door from his workshop that was attached to the main corridor in St. Trinian's, he crept through the hall, rubbing his hands together, trying to restore feeling to his fingers. The school was strangely quiet and it made his movements seem painfully loud for someone who was supposed to be sneaking in unnoticed. Pausing briefly he heard voices coming from the door to his left.

"...back when the French government told him that it couldn't be bought?" he heard Andrea's voice and crouched down in fount of the key hole to see who else was in there.

The room was pretty full, although most of the girls appeared to be asleep. In the far corner he spotted the source of the voices that had drawn him to the room. He noticed Jazz, lent against the wall; she seemed to be saying something to Taylor but he couldn't hear what. Whatever she said seemed to make the others laugh and he used the distraction to send Jazz a quick text letting her know where he was and asking (again) why he had to come sneaking in like this.

The girls sat in the corner began to laugh and Jazz used their temporary distraction to check her phone. Moments later her eyes flashed towards the door, gave a barely perceptible nod and flicked her head slightly, as if to rearrange her hair but disguised her gesture for Flash to come in.

Jazz made a great fuss out of opening the tin that was in her hands to give Flash a chance to open the door and quickly close it behind him, slumping into a chair that had been pushed to the edge of the room and waited for whatever Jazz had planned to begin.

Andrea's POV

Oh my Lord! I can't believe Jazz is serious. Kelly is gonna kill her when she finds out… Oh my Lord…why did I agree to this? Eugh, I'm so stupid sometimes; if Kelly finds out that I was in on Jazz's plot, she's gonna blame me…Maybe she'll stop talking to me? Oh God, if she stops talking to me, Taylor's gonna take advantage…I could end up getting seriously hurt… Oooh, maybe I could shove the blame onto Taylor? Deny all knowledge and be Little Miss Innocent…if it goes wrong, at least. If it goes okay, then I want to share in the credit.

Taylor's POV

This is brilliant! After this Flash and Kelly will finally get together and we don't have to put up with them pining after each other any more! I mean Jazz is like, a criminal genius. She can so pull off a lil' match making. Although some of her other plans ain't gone that good, but this one deffo will. And if it doesn't I can always blame Morty for my part. After all we basically had the same job and all that is, is to make sure Kelly has her back to the door.

Jazz's POV

Phase 1 - getting Flash to the school had gone perfectly, the fact that he was now sat at the back of the room without Kelly knowing was testament to this. She just hoped that phase two would go as smoothly.

"Right my turn," she grinned evilly, looking around the circle, pretending to consider who to question next, "Kelly."

Kelly raised an eyebrow at her cousin, "What?"

"Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, don't look so nervous, we all know the answer to the question I'm going to ask you anyway!" teased Jazz.

Realization began to dawn on Kelly's face, "If you already know wouldn't it be more interesting to ask me something else?" she suggested hopefully.

She shook her head emphatically, "No way! Not only do we all want to hear you admit it, it will be good for you to say it out loud." Jazz took a deep, dramatic breathe, "Kelly Jones, what exactly do you feel for Flash Harry?"

Jazz glanced quickly at Flash, still sat at the back of the room, she had been worried that he would make some noise to alert Kelly to his presence but he seemed to have been stunned into silence, his jaw dropped down so far it was comical.

The poor head girl was now very very pale and was glaring at her traitorous cousin, "I think Flash is a fine business man and a good friend to the school." She folded her arms with an air of finality that bluntly said that was all they were getting out of her

Frowning, she thought _That traitorous snake! Jazz knows that Flash is just a business partner yet she keeps trying to set the two of us up! It's not like I even fancied him. _Her mind suddenly pulled up the image of him leaning over her and pressing his lips briefly to her's that time in his work shop but she quickly pushed it away.

"That wasn't what I asked Kelly." Jazz replied quietly, "I asked what you felt for him, not what you pretend to think about him."

A few laughs greeted this remark but they were quickly hushed, everyone eager to hear what Kelly would say.

Resigning her self to her fate Kelly took a deep breath, "The truth is I don't know how I feel about Flash,its complicated."

"How is it complicated?" asked a baffled Chelsea, "You two are like, meant to be."

"Because he doesn't really like me!" exploded Kelly, "The only reason he's been after me all this time is because he sees me as a challenge! If I admit to him how much I like him he'll have won and that's the last we'll hear of him! Because the second a man finds out that you need him that's it, he's out of there! I'm not going to let that happen to me again! He's just another cold, heartless guy! You can't trust any of them!"

"You still haven't answered the question," whispered Jazz.

"Fine. I love..." Kelly was cut off by the sound of the door at the other end of the door being thrown open and she turned round just in time to see the tail of Flash's coat disappearing around the corner.

Kelly swallowed loudly, "Was that...?"

Guilty faces gave guilty nods.

Kelly nodded slowly, "And did he hear...?"

Guilty faces but no response.

"So he thinks I hate him." Kelly was quiet for a moment and the girls were horribly afraid she might cry. "Oh crap."

Suddenly everyone began talking at once.

*

_So that was what she thinks of me! Well no wonder she'd never wanted to go out with me, since I'm such a cold, heartless git, who basically just wants to sleep with her 'cos she was a bit of a challenge then jump ship when things got a bit tricky. Well thank you Kelly, for such a high opinion._ Flash mentally ranted as he stormed down the St. Trinians drive way.

"FLASH!!" He could hear the voices of several girls, including Kelly, calling after him but he didn't look back. He wouldn't look back. He couldn't look back. Not when he might see her face calling after him, for even after all he had heard tonight he still couldn't resist her. If he saw her face he would stop and he might not be able to walk away. Which he absolutely had to do. He had to forget. It wouldn't last for long but he had to try. He had to forget the way her eyes danced when she smiled at him. The way she flirted with him when ever she needed a favour. The arch of her neck when she looked up at him and the feeling of her body held against his. There was a lot to forget, luckily the nearest pub wasn't far. Neither was the second nearest.

*

Kelly couldn't believe it. She hardly heard Jazz, Taylor and Andrea apologize over and over, insisting that they had assumed she would simply admit to fancying him and leave it at that.

"You knew he was sitting at the back?" whispered Kelly, not meeting anyone's eye.

Jazz and Andrea began to nod and after a brief pause so did Taylor.

Jazz stuttered, "We... Well... I told him to come. I'm sorry Kelly it was my idea. Kelly please say something. I'm sorry, but...."

"But what?" snapped Kelly.

Jazz took a deep breathe and squared up to her. Despite the fact that Kelly was taller than Jazz it was clear who was the older cousin. "But even though you didn't know he was there, why would you say that about him? Flash isn't like that and he didn't deserve that."

"We don't know he's not like that. You never know until it's too late." Kelly shrugged off the girl's looks of concern and walked away.

Kelly wanted to blame them,she really did, but they hadn't made her say those things. They hadn't caused Flash to storm out. She had done that all by herself. Despite the fact that it was nearly 2am Kelly ran up stairs, pulled on the first clothes she grabbed out the wardrobe and headed out. As she was about to step out the door Jazz caught her arm and gave her a quick hug, muttering in her ear so no one else could hear, "Flash isn't like your father Kelly, he'd never hurt you. Never"


	5. Chapter 5

Kelly had three choices; one, to run after Flash, and apologise; two, to  
avoid him for the rest of the year..._six months wasn't that long, was  
it?_ The third choice was to consume so much alcohol her brain would shut  
down, just for one night...

She half ran, half stumbled to her favourite pub, threw open the door  
and collapsed on a stool at the bar. What she really needed was a drink;  
long cool and strong, especially strong.

As she handed the bartender the money she noticed a man further along  
the bar staring openly at her chest, _'He must be drunk,'_she though,  
although he didn't look drunk. Just strangely familiar.  
_  
_

___I am ten years old. I stand in the grimy hallway of our two bedroomed  
flat, as my Daddy stumbles through the warped front door. I run up to  
him, arms outstretched, longing for a hug. He looks at me blindly,  
pushes me aside. I'm small, light as a feather, but I fall with a bump.  
He doesn't notice. He never notices.  
"Lo, Kirsty." He staggers past me, lurching towards the kitchen._

___He got my name wrong, again, but I quickly scramble after him, hoping  
that he's happy today. He's already knocking back a second bottle of  
beer when I reached the kitchen, but as mum came into the room he  
casually pushed the bottles out of sight and smiles at her. I don't like  
the smile he gives mum, it looks like a clown's smile; painted on and  
not real. __  
_

___"Hello honey," he says brightly, giving her a kiss on the cheek._

___"Hello dear," she smiles at Daddy but looks worried. More money's  
vanished from her bank account. She told her friend on the phone that if  
much more goes we won't have enough to get by._

___I smiles at mum, trying to reassure her, but its a forced smile, fake  
like Dad's. Mum might not know where the money's going but I do. I won't  
say though. He'll be cross if I do. Grabbing the telephone off the  
wall I run up to my room. After sprinting down the landing, I dive into my  
room, bolting the door. Glaring down at the phone in my hands, I do what  
I promised I wouldn't. I dial the number that they have on the posters  
__ at school. The number that they have on the adverts. I don't want to  
tell on Daddy but I need to talk to someone. Jenny listens. She doesn't  
pressure me to tell anyone else about what Daddy's doing. She just  
listens. She's nice._

___It's two years later, 2002 now, and I'm in my bedroom. Silent tears  
slide down my face as I desperately tried to block out the voices of my  
parents fighting with her pillow. Always yelling. Always screaming.  
Every single night._

___I whisper into the phone and my cousin whispers back. I have someone  
to call now. Someone I know. Jazz is real. Jazz means what she says.  
Jazz won't leave me. Not like Jenny did. I tried to call her the night  
the screaming began. She was gone. She'd moved on, left me. Alone. Not  
like Jazz. You can't trust adults. They only look out for themselves._

___Mum knows where the money's been going now. I didn't tell but Daddy  
thinks I did. He's cross now. Always cross._

___Then one morning, mum's clothes are gone. Mum's jewelery is gone. Mum's  
car is gone. Mum's money's gone. Her lovely smell that filled my nose  
when she hugged me and her long ebony hair, just like mine, all gone.  
Mum's gone. I miss my mum, I miss her so much. Dad misses mum's money. _

Kelly glares angrily into the bottom of her second empty glass. She had  
come here to forget, why was she suddenly remembering. Remembering all  
those things she had worked so hard to lock away.

___ *_

___I'm 14 now. In year 9 at Constample High. My maroon blazer, three times  
too big reaches right down to my knees, slips over the hand stretched  
out to ease the key round in the lock. School is a temporary escape from  
life at home, but it always ends. Friday night. I hates weekends. Most  
of the other kids at my school count the days until the weekend but I  
count the minutes till I can go back to school. It isn't the best  
__ school. Just the local one. Some of the other kids are nice, some of  
them aren't. But it's nicer than home. What isn't?_

___Poking my head of waist length back hair around the door so I can  
quickly scan all the rooms. All clear. I had beaten him home so I wasted  
no time racing up to my room and bolting the door shut. With any luck he  
wouldn't come home tonight, or the next. These hopes crumple as the  
front is thrown open and slammed again; all pretense of a functional  
family abandoned._

___Using a glass pressed to the floor I try to work out if he is  
alone and if he is sober. Both are negative. I/ don't recognize the  
voices of the other men but it sounds like there are at least four  
besides him. I go pale. More than ever before._

___I clutch the phone to my chest as the voices down stairs become louder  
and louder as they become more and more inebriated. My fingers hover  
over the buttons of the phone, I'm tempted to call Jazz, but she's in  
Europe with our aunt. There's no point worrying her when there's nothing  
she can do to help. Next time they tell me I should come and live with  
them, I'll take them up on their offer. I don't care if Daddy says he'll  
find me if I leave him. He deserves to be left. He won't find me with  
Jazz. They don't exactly do things the traditional way. I don't know why I  
haven't run away already, he may be my father but he doesn't act like  
it. I shouldn't still love him. I shouldn't._

___The voices downstairs are getting louder still. I listen carefully,  
what has upset him so much?_

___"/...that bitch! Not only does she have the cheek to leave me but she  
goes off with another man. Stupid little hooker! Abandons me with the  
brat and..."_

___I don't want to hear any more. It sounds like he ran into Mum. So why  
hasn't she come to see me? Why did she leave me with him?_

___Turning on the radio and turning up the volume to block out the voices  
down stairs, I climb into bed, pulling the covers over my head.  
_

_*_

What was wrong with her?!?! Why did she have to remember, not what came  
next. Please don't remember!!

___Suddenly, my room echoes with thuds. I rise, groggy. I must've fallen  
asleep, though I don't remember. I hate him. Why is he doing this? I  
clutch my pillow, curling tight on my bed, trying to block their shouts.  
"Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Momma's gonna buy you a mocking  
bird." I whisper the word to myself, trying to draw comfort from them. I  
can hear what they're shouting now, his voice loudest of all. Shouting  
my name. Why?_

___The pounding becomes more violent as, outside in the landing, my father  
begins to hurl himself at the door over and over._

___The screws that hold the metal bolt in place shift._

The guy across the bar that Kelly noticed when she first came in  
continues to stare at her. Although she hadn't been able to work out who  
he was, he had known her immediately. He may not be top of his class but  
he'd have to be stupid not to recognize the incredibly hot head girl of  
the nearby boarding school. Incredibly hot, incredibly drunk and  
incredibly alone. He smiled maliciously.

___  
Diving out of bed I throw my pitifully small weight against the door.  
What good would it do?_

Kelly ordered yet another drink as tears pricked at the corners of her  
eyes. The bartender looked as though he might cut her off but she gave  
him a cold, hard glare and he quickly thought better of it.

___ *_

___I dive under the bed as the bolt and hinges finally give out and the  
door comes crashing down, landing on my foot before I could drag myself  
under the bed._

___"Where are you? Come out you pathetic little creature! Your the  
spitting image of her, aren't you? You look just like that traitorous  
mother of yours!! I'm gunna teach you a lesson you won't forget!" Dad  
yells while his friends begin to search for me._

___A cry of fear escapes my lips, revealing my hiding place to my father  
who reaches under the bed and drags me out by my hair._

___Then he hit me. My own father hit me. Punching over and over in the  
stomach before he pushes me over to his friends who catch me and  
stop me from running away. Their hands on my bare arms are sweaty  
and hot, their breathe smells strongly of alcohol. The sound of their  
drunken laughter fills the air until another sound cuts through. A pen  
knife being flicked open._

___My eyes shoot open, wide with fear as I see him walking towards me;  
holding the knife._

___**'He's going to kill me. My own father.'**_

___I shut my eyes tightly. I will not let him see my fear. I will not let  
him see my tears._

___Waiting_

___Waiting for the pain._

___"Do you want to leave me as well?" His face is so close to mine that I  
can feel the flecks of spit that fly from his mouth as he speaks._

___I look him hard in the eye and nod. I shouldn't have, but it's the truth.  
_

___"Quiet," he hisses softly, pressing a finger to his own lips and the  
blade of his knife to mine to emphasize the point, "You won't dare leave  
me after I'm finished with you. Besides who will want you if you do?"_

___He drags the knife downwards, cutting open my lips. He laughs  
coldly. "Your gunna look like trash. You're worthless. You're nothing.  
No man will ever love you. You want to run away, be my guest, but no one  
will take you in. No one!! All anyone will ever see you as is a pair of  
legs. You stupid, pathetic bitch!!!"_

___He begins hacking away at my long ebony locks, the only thing I had to  
remind me of my mother, leaving my hair long in places and short in  
others._

___The fists descend again. This time not only his but his friends as  
well. Punch after punch until they wear themselves out and slouch out  
of the room to fall asleep in the lounge. Leaving me bloodied and  
bruised but in so much pain I at least know I'm alive._

Kelly wiped away the stray tears that had managed to escape a quickly  
downed the rest of her drink. She was going home, back to St. Trinians.  
Why had she felt so bad for what she had said to Flash? That was what  
men were like. Maybe it was a good thing she had remembered.

Standing up she nearly collapsed as all the alcohol she had drunk rushed  
to her head. Using the bar to hold herself up she took a few steps  
forward but quickley realized that the bar ran out quite a way from the  
door. She was so deep in thought about how she was going to get back to  
St. Trinians that she didn't notice him approach her. Normally, when  
faced with this kind of predicament she would call Flash for a lift,  
obviously not an option this time.

She finally noticed him when he slipped an arm around her waist and  
began to pull her towards the door. Yelping in surprise, her alcohol  
filled brain didn't register that the best thing to do would be to push  
him away until they were out of the busy pub and into the cold night  
air, away from anyone who could have witnessed her plight.

"What? Who? Hey!" she managed to gasp out as he began to lead her along  
the road.

"Don't you recognize me?" he asked, chuckling when she shook her head in  
a way that made her cringe, "I'm James Thompson, I go to the boys school  
near here."

Deciding that she didn't like this James Thompson she tried to conjour  
up the memories of the last party between the two schools but she  
couldn't remember any faces; just that she had gotten very drunk then as  
well. For some reason those memories had a slightly bitter after taste  
though she didn't know why. She had woken up in her bed, still in her  
clothes from the night before, although someone (she doubted she'd done  
it herself) had taken off her shoes.

"Are you trying to get back to school?" his voice cut through her  
thoughts as she realized he'd been leading her along without her paying  
attention to where they were going. Kelly nodded slowly as she checked  
she knew where she was.

"Well you don't look like your in a fit state to walk all that way on  
your own, come on, I'll give you a hand," his voice was reassuring but  
if she'd bothered to look she would have found something not so  
charitable in his eyes.

Half asleep already, Kelly allowed her mind to wander.

___ My arms hurt. My legs hurt. My head hurt. There are cuts and bruises  
all over my body and blood is flowing freely from the side of my  
head, matting my hair and running down my face, giving me the  
appearance of weeping blood. But I don't cry real tears._

___Struggling to my feet, I begins to stagger round my room, cramming a  
few thing a bag. Making as little noise as possible so as not  
to wake the sleeping men I carefully descend the stairs and slip  
out of the front door, clutching my bag to my chest. As I go to shut  
the front door I hear the soft grunt from indoors that indicates that he  
is waking up. _

___  
Not willing to be caught by him I leave the front door and begin to  
charge down the street. Stumbling and falling every few steps but never  
stopping. I run on, although exhaustion and pain makes me weak. I  
don't stop until I have put so much distance between myself and the  
house that I no longer know where I am._

___I duck down an alley, and drop to my knees. I hug my chest and sob. I can't run any more.  
My head hurts so badly I think I might be sick. I just hope  
that someone'll find me soon and that the someone won't be him. _

Only when a dog begins to bark a few streets away does she start awake. A  
wave of dread comes crashing over her as she realizes not only was this  
not the way back to school, but that she had no idea where she was.

"This isn't the way back to the school," she stated blandly, as if she  
thought he'd made a wrong turn somewhere. **'He might be a nice guy,' **  
she told herself, **'he might only be trying to help, you don't want to  
freak him out.'**

"Don't worry, my cars parked over here," he replied causally.

It seemed like a valid explanation so she reluctantly aloud him to lead  
on, paying much closer attention to where they were going.

Suddenly he turned sharply left, almost causing Kelly to fall over but  
he easily caught her. Holding her tightly so, not only could she not  
fall again, but she had absolutely no control over where she went. Kelly  
opened her mouth, ready to cry out for help but caught herself quickly  
as she saw that they had turned into a car park and they were headed  
towards an old, silver, Ford Escort.

Mentally berating herself for being so jumpy she did the worst possible  
thing she could have done. She relaxed.

**A/N: Song for this chapter is Concrete Angel by Martina McBride. If you don't know the song I recomend watching the video for it on YouTube first. Warning You may need tissues!!!! **


	6. Chapter 6

Mentally berating herself for being so jumpy she did the worst possible thing she could have done. She relaxed.

James smiled to himself as he felt her relax. _Finally._

He was immensely proud of himself for continuing to walk calmly across the car park, but the second they reached his car he lost all pretense of being the nice guy.

*

Flash was mad. Every time he'd gone into a pub or bar he had been flooded by a fresh tide of memories of one party or another that he'd gone to with the girls of St. Trinians, most notably, Kelly. All these extra memories were exactly what he didn't need. He was suppose to be forgetting for Pete's sake!!

Deciding that his usual favourites were going to be no good tonight he strode off down the road, trying to find somewhere off the beaten track. He had been walking for a few minutes when he heard it.

He finally pulled his mouth away from hers, biting on her neck while his hands began to work their way up her top.

An ear splitting scream wrenched itself from her throat

A sound that scared him worse than anything else ever could. Kelly's scream. Whether from pain or fear he couldn't tell but it was definitely Kelly.

He set off running, as fast as he could, following the sound of Kelly's scream.

He hit her hard across the face, knocking her to the ground. But she kept screaming; someone had to find her! He kicked her brutally in the ribs until her cry of fear became one of pain. Realizing she wasn't going to stop he dragged her to her feet and forced her inside the car, until she was sprawled across the back seats. He climbed in, slamming the door behind him; shutting off her screams.

"Don't scream so much babe," he hissed in her ear as she struggled beneath him, "relax, you might even enjoy it."

He chuckled maliciously as his hand began to unbutton the front of her blouse, kissing each newly exposed patch of skin as he went. A flash of anger went through her and Kelly managed to wrench her hand free, wracking down the side of his face with her nails; drawing blood. James cried out in pain, bringing up one hand to feel his blood face.

"Little bitch!," he screamed, "I was gunna play nice but now, I'm gunna ride you so hard your gunna snap like a twig!" Without further ado he ripped the rest of her shirt open, sending button in all directions. He now took special care to pin her hands under his knees; not allowing her any more chances to defend herself.

*

Flash was panicking, he could no longer hear Kelly's screams but they had cut off so abruptly that he wasn't sure that it had been her own doing that stopped them. Tearing around the corner, Flash found himself in a car park. A car park that held only one car. He couldn't see much through the window but what he did see made him feel sick.

Tearing across the car park, he wrenched open the car door, seized James by the scruff of his neck and pulled him bodily out onto the tarmac ground; away from Kelly.

*

And suddenly the weight was gone. Curling up on her side (and although she hated her self for such an open display of weakness) allowed violent sobs to wrack her body.

It didn't take long for Flash's fists to get across exactly how much he hated the detestable fiend, who, moments before had seemed so sure of himself, was now running away as fast as his now severely bruised body would carry him.

Leaning into the car, Flash felt him heart breaking as he laid eyes on Kelly; hurt and sobbing in the corned of the back seat. Gently easing himself into the seat next to her he placed a tentative hand on her shoulder. For a split second she became completely tense under his hand, but before he could get a comforting word out all of hell erupted. Still sobbing hysterically, Kelly thew herself at Flash: lashing out blindly, managing to land a few hits on him before caught hold of her hands. Shaking her roughly, but not unkindly he called out, "Kelly! Kelly, its me! Flash! Kelly, calm down."

At the sound of his voice her eyes had snapped sharply into focus. She froze momentarily, her eyes drinking in the sight of Flash's face before she threw herself at him once again; wrapping her arms around his neck and burring her face in the crook of his neck, cry quietly on his shoulder.

"Come on babe. I'll take care of you. I'll take you home," he whispered into her hair.

Lifting her carefully out of the car, he began the walk back to St. Trinian's with Kelly held safely in his arms.

At the sound of his voice she had instantly stopped struggling against the strong grip on her hands. Hardly able to believe what she was hearing, she instantly focused on his face, absorbing every inch. Before she could process what she was doing, she had thrown herself into his tight embrace. Allowing him to take her in his arms and despite all she had been through that night, and on a night many years ago, she couldn't help but feel safe. As she drifted off to sleep the final part of the memory that she had been reliving came to her and slept on his shoulder with a soft smile on her lips.

_The grief and pain are so strong that I find myself drowning beneath  
them. They hold me down, crushing me in their powerful grip, allowing me no  
escape. I close my eyes and allow sleep to take me, I feel as though I  
haven't slept for years...  
_

I can feel a hand on my shoulder, shaking me slightly, gently. _At least  
I know that it's not my father.  
_

"Hey, wake up. Come on babe, you can't stay here," a voice breaks  
through the deafening silence of the night, rough and gentle all at  
once. With that voice the crushing weight lifts and I can find the  
strength to turn and look up into his eyes.

He is my age, perhaps a bit older, with long scruffy black hair. He  
smiles encouragingly at me but doesn't come any closer; sensing my fear.  
But I don't fear him. I should, he's a guy after all. Men can't be  
trusted, my father proves that, but its hard not to trust him and I no  
longer have strength for anything difficult tonight. So I fall  
helplessly into the arms of this complete stranger, sobbing into his  
shoulder. I feel his hands softly stroke my hair, although it is matted  
with blood he seem not to mind and I can hear him whispering comfort  
into my ear.

Finally, my tears run dry and I pull away, embarrassed by my weakness.  
"Sorry," I muter, hopefully I haven't freaked him out to much.

He smiles again but this time its a gorgeous lazy grin that makes my  
heart feel strangely light, " Don't be sorry babe, you look like you've  
been through a lot."

He reaches up slowly, carefully, as if he doesn't want to frighten me  
and places a hand against the side of my head. When he takes it away his  
fingers are coated in blood. My blood.

"What happened to you?" he mutters, the questions sounds more like a  
thought out loud and I hope I don't have to answer, so I say nothing.  
Eventually he speaks again, "You can't stay here, do you have anywhere  
to go?"

I look down, avoiding his eyes and shake my head. Suddenly the pavement  
disappears from beneath me. I gasp sharply and throw my arms around  
his neck as he scoops me up and begin to walk down the alleyway.

"Relax," he chuckles, "I'm not going to drop you."

"Put me down, I can walk," I insist half heartedly; I wasn't sure if  
I could get further than a few steps but I must weigh a ton, "Please put  
me down, I'm too heavy to carry."

He chuckles again, "Please, your light as a feather. Besides, you think  
I'm just going to leave you here?"

I really hope he won't.

Sighing I resigned my self to my fate, whatever it may be.

"Come on babe. I''ll take care of you. I'll take you home." he  
whispered into my hair.

"Won't your parents mind?" I asked stupidly causing him to chuckle again.

"Its not that kind of home. Don't you worry, me and Miss Fritton will take good care of you." 

*

As Flash carried Kelly through the gates and down the driveway to St. Trinian's he looked down at her sleeping form and felt the strongest sensation of deja vu.


	7. Chapter 7

Worried, did not even begin to cover how frantic the girls were over Kelly's sudden departure. She was the Head girl for God's sake, she didn't run away when things got hard; she stood and fought! There had been no sign of Kelly for about three hours now, and the local pub had been closed for the last half hour. Taylor, Andrea and Jazz were the last students left awake and had been taking it in turns to stare out of the window, watching for Kelly to stagger up the driveway.

"Holy... Shit shit shit!" shrieked Taylor suddenly, causing Andrea and Jazz to rush to the window she was staring out of.

Catching sight of Flash carrying her cousin down the driveway Jazz let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God, he found her." She breathed.

But when Andrea and Taylor didn't join her in her sentiments of relief she looked curiously between the two girls. They were both staring, jaws slacked, eyes popping at the scene bellow.

"Errm, guys?" said Jazz, puzzled as she waved a hand in front of their faces.

"Shit," repeated Taylor softly.

"Deja frigging vu or what." muttered Andrea and Taylor nodded in agreement; the pair, for once, not arguing.

"Ok guys, your seriously starting to weird me out. Can someone please tell me whats going on?" asked Jazz with a nervous laugh.

The emo and the chav exchanged glances, you could almost see two identical memories replaying themselves in each set of eyes.

*

_"Oy, Rea! What've you done with my new eyeliner?" A brunette girl wearing pigtails and a clash of bright eyeshadows stormed into the library, empty save for a dark haired, pale-skinned third year. With a sigh, she put down her book, revealing a pair of dark eyes, lined with thick black makeup and stared innocently up at the loud-mouthed girl.  
_

_"What would I do with your makeup, Taylor?" Rea asked innocently, before picking up her novel and absorbing herself once more.  
_

_"Give me that!" Taylor lunged at the book, grabbing it out of Rea's hands.  
_

_"Hey! Give that back!"  
_

_"Not until you give me my eyeliner!" Taylor danced nimbly over to the window, climbing up onto the windowseat, holding the book above her head. Rea followed her over.  
_

_"Give it back."  
_

_"Nope." Taylor grinned, and scrambled up the ladder standing nearby, putting the book on a high shelf.  
"Tay-lorrrrr, you know I don't like heights." Rea whined. "And anyway, why would I take your stupid eyeliner; it's pink!"  
_

_"An-dreaaaaaa, I know you're a baby. And thats precicilt why you'd take it: your sooo desperate for a bit of colour in your life!" Taylor's grin stretched wider as Rea flopped, defeated onto the window seat. "Reeeeee--aaaa? Oy, Rea!"  
_

_Rea turned her head away from Taylor, choosing to ignore her and stare out of the window instead. For a minute, she glared, seeing nothing. But then, in the gloom, her eyes caught movement. She stood quickly, clutching at Taylor. "There's somebody out there." Her breathing was shallow, her face paler then usual.  
_

_Taylor laughed, bobbing down to look out of the window. After a minute, she turned to Rea. "You freak. That's Flash. See, I did you a favour, getting rid of that book. You're gonna have nightmares again."  
_

_Slowly, Rea's breathing calmed, as she too, saw that it was Flash.  
_

_"Let's tell Holly." Taylor jumped up, ready to get the head girl.  
_

_"Wait!" Rea pulled her back. "What's Flash carrying?"  
_

*

Five years in the future, the same two girls, older now, and slightly taller, were stood at the same window, watching the same scene unfold. The book which Andrea had been reading all those years ago was still high above their heads, forgotton by all but the mice who nibbled at it's pages. The girls were joined by another now, too, and instead of curiosity, their faces showed nothing but worry. But at last, there was movement. Please, please let her be alright...

After a brief pause Jazz ran to find Miss Fritton while the others waited impatiently. But before either Jazz or Miss Fritton could return the front door of the school was thrown open and Flash marched in, cradling Kelly.

"Kelly!" the two girls cried and rushed towards them but a sharp look from Flash quickly silenced them as they realized that their formidable head girl was sound asleep in his arms.

"Oh my God, she's dead!!" wailed Andrea, earning a smack round the head from Taylor as Kelly stirred slightly in her sleep, proving that she wasn't dead.

Flash rolled his eyes and started to walk past the girls but they quickly stopped him.

"You can't take her to the dorm!" hissed Taylor, "The other girls can't see her like this!"

Flash seemed to realize the truth in what they were saying and stopped short. "Well were should I put her? She needs to sleep, she's been through a lot." asked Flash, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Not to worry Harry, she can sleep in my room."

They all turned to see Miss Fritton and Jazz walking into the room, looking at Kelly, their eyes full of concern. It felt strange seeing their normally cheerful headmistress looking so serious.

"But first, Flash, we need to know what happened," stated Miss Fritton.

"But first," cut in Jazz, rounding on Andrea and Taylor who looked decidedly nervous, "you two have some explaining to do."

They glanced nervously at each other before beginning to speak rapidly over the top of each other.

"We weren't suppose to tell you..."

"...cause Kelly was worried that you'd set the whole gang on him..."

"...that you'd get caught..."

"...she'll kill us if she finds out we told you..."

"...when he found her..."

"...really messed up..."

"...was worried how you'd react..."

"Ok stop!" yelled Jazz over the two as they babbled on, "What was Kelly worried about?"

More nervous glances followed before Andrea took a deep breathe and began to talk, As she explained how Kelly had been found by Flash, Jazz's face fell. _What? Uncle Jimmy had beaten Kelly up? She hadn't planned to run away? What!_  
Jazz's mouth fell open. _I can't believe this! Why didn't she tell me?_ She noted that Andrea's soft voice had stopped, had been overtaken by a much harsher voice. _Flash,_ she noticed, somewhat dimly. She wasn't listening now, anyway, didn't want to hear it from a group of strangers. Instead, she fixed on Kelly. Kelly, her favourite cousin. _Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't she confide in me, ask me for help?_ Jazz grew red, as a small voice in her head piped up. _"She did tell you. You knew exactly what was going on. And you ignored it, pretending it didn't happen. It was your fault. And you know it."_

Jazz shut the voice up, quickly, turning her anger instead, to Kelly. _Why did she just run away? Is she stupid? Anyone could have found her. Flash could've raped her, could've murdered her. And she trusted him explicitly. And to think that she had turned to strangers, this batty old woman, the scruffy man, a goth and a chav, instead of her own cousin. Who the hell is the girl in Flash's arms? 'Cos she was sure as hell not Kelly Jones. Well, she obviously doesn't need me._ Without waiting for Flash to finish speaking, Jazz turned tail and ran. _Why did she tell them? Why did she tell them and not me?_ She didn't want anyone to see the hot, angry tears she knew were about to fall.

Andrea and Taylor watched in astonishment as Jazz ran past. Taylor made to go after her, but Miss Fritton reached out her arm, pulling her back.  
"Let her go. She needs time. And I think Kelly will need you two. Alcohol has a nasty habit of coming back up."  
"You mean, we're on vomit duty?" Andrea asked, dismayed. Camilla nodded, amused at the girls' looks of disgust. "Go now, put Kelly to bed, and stay with her. I need to talk to Flash, and then I'll send him for you."  
Andrea and Taylor looked at each other, and shrugged. "Come on, we'll manage between us." Taylor and Andrea balanced Kelly between them, half carrying, half dragging her to Camilla's bedroom

"Right, well I think we should stop standing here, we're making the place look untidy. Flash, I think we need to talk," Miss Fritton quickly ushered everyone away, wondering what had happened to her brave Head girl.

*

It had been a long night but it was nearly over, the pale light of dawn was starting to creep over the horizon. There had been a general agreement that they should hire an assassin to go after James but Miss Fritton had pointed out that not even the left over money from the theft of The Girl with the Pearl Earring would pay for that. Even if they did know a few good ones.

"Besides," Andrea had added, "he doesn't deserve such a humane end."

Everyone had agreed with this, although the slightly disturbing glint in her eye had stopped them from perusing the subject. Taylor and Andrea had been relieved of vomit duty when Kelly had bluntly told them to "Bugger off!" because she could "hold her alcohol," Miss Fritton had agreed that it was best if they left her to sleep.

Flash spoke little beyond explaining what had happened to Miss Fritton. He was fixing the feeling of having Kelly held in his arms in his mind, he would like, just once to have her in his arms when she wasn't sobbing and hurt. Just once. Why was it only when she was hurt that he could hold her close, stroke her hair and whisper softly to her. He knew tomorrow, the shields would be back up and Kelly would go back to being the impenetrable person they all knew. The impenetrable person whom he couldn't help but love.

*

Kelly lay in Miss Fritton's bed pretending to be asleep. Every half an hour or so, someone would come in to check that she was still 'asleep'. Yet as Taylor, Andrea and Miss Fritton each took turns to check on her, the one person she really wanted to talk to didn't come. She was about to give up and accept that he had gone home when she heard footsteps approaching that didn't fill the hallway with the ring of high heels.

Sitting up slightly in bed, she waited for Flash to open the door before quickly motioning to him to stay quiet until he had closed the door. When he had done so he moved over to the bed and sat down in a chair beside her.

"Kelly, you should sleep," he whispered softly.

"I can't sleep," she whispered back.

There was a brief pause while Flash searched her face, his eyes taking in every bruise and scratch, the hint of fear in her eyes and the bags beneath them. Kelly blushed slightly under the heat of his gaze and lowered her eyes, unable to meet his gaze. Suddenly she felt the bed shift as Flash came to sit besides her. He reached out slowly, stroking her hair and jaw, running his thumb a lot her bruised cheek bone before hooking a finger under her chin and lifting her head till their eyes met.

"I will never let anything happen to you again. I will never let anyone hurt you, I swear," he spoke with such emotion that the tears that had been lurking at the edged of Kelly's vision began to escape.

She looked hard into his deep eyes, letting herself get lost in them. He stroked the side of her face again, brushing away her tears with his other hand.

"I should let the other know your awake," he said softly, but Kelly shook her head.

She didn't want to see anyone else just yet. As soon as they came she would have to be strong again but right now, there was time for one more moment of weakness. Very slowly she lent closer to him. Trying to tell him with her eyes, that which she couldn't say out loud, before bringing her lips to his once, very softly. She started to pull away when Flash's lips were on her's again. There was a burning intensity to the kiss which Kelly quickly lost herself in. Not noticing when he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his lap, his other hand knotting into her hair. Holding her tightly but with enough space so that she could tell him no if she wanted to. But she didn't want to; she never had really.


	8. Chapter 8

"Geoffrey! Oi, Geoff!"

"Daddy! Daddy, where are you?"

Geoffrey Thwaits was awoken from an uncomfortable sleep on his office couch by two obnoxious teenage voices.

"Geoff, you will never believe what..." obnoxious youth number one broke off suddenly, taking in the suitcase on the desk and the tangled blanket over his Godfather's form, "what the hell are you doing sleeping in the office?"

"Watch your language, James," snapped Thwaits before sighing, "Jennifer kicked me out when she saw those photos of me at 's bedroom window. She didn't even give me a chance to explain."

"Oh! Poor Daddy! Mummy's distraught, she's not in her right mind. Of course it's that vile woman's fault! If only Mummy would let you explain!" exulted Verity.

"Explain what? That you didn't mean to get caught?" smirked James.

"No!" exclaimed Thwaits, "I was drugged, Camilla slipped me something because I was going to report her school to the police - Lawless reprobates the lot of them. Some of them deserve to be put away for good, and I don't just mean the teachers!"

"Precisely!" agreed James, "look at what one of them did to me!"

With that he strode across the room and threw the curtains open, allowing the light to fall on an incredibly swollen black eye and bloodied nose.

"A girl did that to you?" asked Thwaits incredulously.

"They're violent, Daddy!" shrieked Verity, before James had a chance to answer, "don't you remember what that Fritton girl did to me?"

Geoffrey stood and began pacing his office, muttering to himself. "This has gone far enough. They can't keep getting away with this. They rob The National Art Gallery, ruin my reputation and marriage, hospitalize my daughter; twice! And now they attack my Godson. They must be stopped!"

Then turning round he seized the phone off his desk and began barking orders to his assistant, "Miss King, I want the whole department assembled for a meeting, pronto. Also I want Alistair Henderson in my office, now! Scrap the uniform scheme, we have a new priority."

With that he stalked out of the room, calling back to Verity and James to wait for him there. Once they were alone James turned to Verity, "Why did you tell him a girl beat me up? I told you it was some bloke."

"Because," hissed Verity, looking round to make sure no one was listening, "we need as much as we can get to bring these girls down. If he works at the school he'll go down with it anyway but I want these animals to suffer!!"

*

Taylor and Andrea stared intently at each other.

A strand of hair fell into Taylor's face and she quickly pushed it away.

From somewhere upstairs there came an almighty scream followed by a large crash.

The Posh Totties clattered past in their stilettos and lingerie.

Matron began to laugh drunkenly.

An explosion from outside made the windows rattle.

Andrea blinked.

"Ha! You blinked! You loose!" shrieked Taylor, punching the air triumphantly.

"But that's not fair!" moaned Andrea, "I thought the first years were out of explosives!"

"Well that's your loss, ain't it," laughed Taylor, "now you lost so you got to tell Kelly."

"Tell me what?"

The emo and the chav both leapt comically into the air, identical guilty expressions on their faces. Kelly stood in the doorway, eyebrow raised, foot tapping; waiting for an answer. "Well?"

"The thing is," said Andrea after Taylor's elbow in her ribs prompted her, "Jazz didn't get called away on a job. She left."

Confusion flashed across Kelly's face before it was quickly smothered by her usual ice queen façade. "Oh. I... I don't suppose she said why?"

Taylor and Andrea shook their heads mutely.

"Oh well," said Kelly breezily as she turned and sweat out of the room, "I suppose she'll turn up again sooner or later."

"Actually, Kelly," called Taylor, "she seemed pretty mad about something. I don't... I don't think she's coming back this time. I'm sorry."

Kelly paused slightly at this but gave no reaction and offered no reply. A moment later she was gone; the ring of her heels echoing down the corridor.

"Come on," muttered Andrea as she pulled Taylor to her feet and the two hurried after Kelly.

When they finally caught up with her she was reapplying her lipstick, using one of Beverley's many compacts. The two waited nervously for her to finish.

"I know your worried about me," stated Kelly, glancing up at her two best friends, "but you don't have to be. I'm completely fine."

Taylor and Andrea exchanged sceptical looks and silently resolved to keep a close eye on the head girl. Last time she had been _'completely fine'_ about something (one of the Posh Totties had let slip that she had seen Flash on a date) she had worked herself so hard in order to forget, she had nearly collapsed of exhaustion. Only taking people's advise to rest when she nearly passed out.

"Right," said Kelly, "I've lots to do so I'll talk to you later."

As the door swung shut behind Kelly, Taylor heard Andrea groan and mumble, "Oh no. She's going to do it again, isn't she?"

Taylor nodded glumly and they both stormed off in opposite directions: Kelly was to stubborn to reason with.

*

Alistair Henderson shuffled nervously out of Thwaits' office and took his seat and the conference table. He's been a nervous wreck throughout the entire meeting but luckily Thwaits had put it down to fear of the school he was talking about. No one ever guessed that he was really worried about.

While he had been at St. Trinian's he had begun dating the school Librarian. After he had been caught and eventually released he had assumed that she would never want to see him again and so couldn't believe his luck when she had called him and asked if their date was still on. Jennifer Stuart and Alistair had been seeing each other even since, meaning that he was always up to date on the St. Trinian's gossip. Alistair was always worried that he would mention something at work and the others would find out that he knew more than he should.

"Ladies and gentlemen," began Thwaits, "St. Trinian's have flouted up for the last time! We under estimated them last time but never again. We will bring those criminals to their knees."

As Thwaits finished speaking, said members of his department exchanged glances. _ The man's completely obsessed!_ Though Alistair, _still, what can I do about it? Thwaits'll fire me if I oppose his plans and I really don't want to be out of work now. It'll be best if I just go along with what Thwaits is saying then warn Jenny later. _

The rest of the department were as unhappy with Thwaits as Alistair was, although for a different reason. If they actually got St. Trinian's, it would make them look very good. Very good indeed. Perhaps they needed someone with Thwaits' drive to get this lot, after all, they had been trying and failing for years. But there was a reason they had been failing! If they went up against those girls again they would be humiliated. Again! It was best if they focused on the schools that could actually be helped.

"The first step," Thwaits continued, "is to identify the ringleaders, the masterminds behind the plans. Once we have them, the others will fall easily. Unfortunately, we can't rely on Mr. Henderson's information for this since it will have changed since he was there, however he has assured me that it is the girls and not the staff we need to focus on. So, I want the police records on every girl at that school. Any girls that joined late, I want to know why. Did they get expelled from their last school? If so, why? I want all this by tomorrow."

There was a scramble of activity as everyone set to work, but as he walked past, Thwaits caught Mr. Henderson's shoulder.

"Not you, Alistair," said Thwaits, "I need to talk to you some more."


	9. Chapter 9

From the description James had given, Alistair concluded that the teenager had been attacked by Flash Harry.

Of course, he hadn't been Flash when Henderson had known him. No, Harry had still been learning the trade from his Dad then, but he matched James' description.

Back then he'd seemed like a nice guy – a spiv through and through, but a nice guy. So why would he have beaten up James? _He wouldn't have, unless James had done something to really piss him off. Apparently he had a soft spot for a girls he had literally carried in from a street a few years back. If James had done something to her, then that would defiantly have pissed Harry off._ Alistair could still remember Jenny telling him about it.

"_Alistair! Hey, Al. You will never believe what happened today!" I hear Jenny call out as she opens the front door to our flat. _

_It's been over two years since I pretended to teach at St. Trinian's and Jenny and I had been living together for a little over half of that time. The compensation I receive for my so-called '__recurrent trauma' meant that we had been able to purchase a much larger apartment than we would have been able to afford without it. Plus I may it amusing to fake anxiety attacks every time someone mentions St. Trinian's at work. I don't only do it for my amusement though. It does serve the practical purpose of keeping conversation away from the school. _

"_What?" I ask from my seat in the living room. _

"_Well," she replies, strolling into the room and seating herself comfortably in my lap. "Do you remember young Flash?"_

_I nod affirmative. How could I forget him?_

"_Well," Jenny begins in a conspiratorial tone (I swear she's been reading to many mystery novels at work), "you know that I went in early today, to try to catch the little bugger who's been pinching my books. It was about 6:30 and I was just parking my car when I heard a great hullabaloo from indoors. I thought it was very odd since the girls definitely aren't early risers so I went to investigate....."_

"_As I walk up to the school, I notice that the main door is ajar and several lights inside are on. I follow the trail of lights and the successive open doors, attempting to be quiet in my progress. I can hear the chorus of voices all speaking over each other getting louder, so I must be getting closer. Finally, I round yet another door, only to gasp out loud. Immediately, everyone turns to stare at me._

_There are less people in the room than the level of noise had lead me to think and two of them aren't adding to the din. It was the quiet two which made me gasp. A young girl, no more than fifteen lay on the sofa. Her wild black hair is matted with blood. Matron, for once sober and sensible, is bent over her cleaning an angry gash on the girl's arm. _

"_What?" I gasp, waving my arms at the girl. Trying to communicate my question though words fail me. _

_Trying to distract myself from the sight of the poor girls I look around to the erst of the group. Two third years stand in the centre of the room, an emo and a chav, for once not fighting. They are both wearing their uniforms and weary expressions. I don't think they've been to bed yet. _

_By the window is Flash Harry, he is dressed in his usual extravagant attire minus his leather coat which has been draped over the girl as a make shift blanket. Its strange to see him like this. He's normally so casual and carefree but now his expression is etched with anger, concern and something else. Something new that's shining in his eyes._

_The final person is Miss Fritton. An eye sore as usual in her garish pink dressing gown. It's her that finally takes pity on me and answers my question._

"_We aren't sure," she says bluntly, "and we won't be until she wakes up. Flash found her near the abandoned cinema and brought her here."_

_I turn back to Flash, seeking conformation. He nods once before saying, "She had a bag on her so I'd guess she's a run away. From her injuries and how terrified she was when I found her, I'd say she didn't have much choice."_

_As he spoke of her obvious suffering his entire __countenance __stiffened and his fists clenched but as he glanced over at her he sofened again. "She passed out soon after I found her."_

"_You carried her all that way?" I blurted out and Flash nodded again._

"_Aww. That is so cute!" I teased making Flash scowl and duck his head while the two third years attempted to stifle their giggles. _

_He's been at St. Trinian's for a few years now but this is the first time I've seen him in full 'big brother' over protective mode. Although, there's not that much of an age gap between them. She's pretty as well. I have a feeling it won't always be a platonic relationship. I hope I'm right. It would be lovely if Flash found a girl that really siuted him. After all, once the knight rescues the damsel in destress, then there's only one way for that story to end._

"_...And then, after they took her to the Nurses room he stayed with her until she woke up. It was the most romantic thing ever." Jenny finishes with a happy sigh._

"_Really?" I ask, wrapping my arms around her waist and kissing her on the cheek, "the most romantic?"_

"_Well," says Jenny mischievously, twisting around in my arms so that she's was facing me, "maybe not the _most_. But it's pretty good."_

Jenny had mentioned the pair frequently after that and there was one thing that Alistair was sure of: If it had been Flash that had beaten James up, it would be because James had done something to Kelly Jones. As time had worn on, Jenny's description of the relationship between the spiv and the girl had grown more romantic. She had seen it first; Flash grew to love Kelly as more then just another girl, but as a woman. His protectiveness over her grew with time and developed into a love so deep that no one could miss it.

"Why are we even bothering to ask Henderson?" snapped Verity, "It's obvious who was behind this. I bet it was either that Fritton girl or that slut of a head girl with her emo and chav side kicks."

"Gods! Are you really that dense Verity? I told you that I'd go along with the story that it was the girls in front of your Dad but only because I want my own revenge on that bloke. To do that, I have to know who he is!" explained James through gritted teeth. Trying to keep his temper. "Now, who was it?"

"I don't know," Alistair lied. "The teaching staff have probably changed since I was there."

James brought his fist down hard upon the desk. "Your lying!" he snarled. "That git has been around for years! I see him at every party and he knows all the girls by names. He can't be new. Now tell us who it was or I'll tell Geoff that your so scared of St. Trinian's your unfit for work and he'll fire you."

Alistair glared briefly at Verity and James before muttering bitterly, "It was Flash Harry. I don't know his real name. He's the school spiv."

*

"What is it Taylor?" asked Kelly, exasperated. "I'm really busy right now."

Taylor managed to stop her eyes from rolling but only just. Kelly had been working none stop, doing tasks Taylor hadn't know existed.

_I'm sure she's making half this stuff up,_ thought Taylor before answering in her most sincere voice. "Don't you think you should take a break? Slow down a bit, rest more often. This place won't fall apart just because you get a decent nights sleep."

"I'm just not tired Taylor," lied Kelly, her hand straying guiltily to the bag beneath her eyes.

"Kelly, you yelled at the Twins yesterday! They're only ten for Christ sake." Taylor paused, scanning Kelly's face before continuing. "Your not even doing important stuff! I mean you alphabetized the bloody text books. The only thing they get used for is to hide Celia's hardcore stuff from the first years. Now even she can't find it!"

"Oh just shove off, Taylor!" snapped Kelly, harshly. "Why don't you mind your own business and stay the hell out of mine!"

With a final glare at Taylor, Kelly stormed out of the room.

When Andrea found Taylor a few minutes later she was staring at a wall with a look of deep concentration on her face.

"I think all that hair spray finally melted your brain," sniggered Andrea.

Ignoring Andrea's remark Taylor said, "I'm trying to decide which wall to hit my head against."

"Uh oh, you didn't borrow anything off Celia did you? Don't you know that stuffs a bit stronger than 'baccy?" asked Andrea with mock concern.

"She didn't listen Rea!" cried Taylor, spinning round to face the emo, "She didn't listen to a word I said!"

Andrea sighed and awkwardly patted Taylor's shoulder, "Did you honestly think she would?"

Letting out a frustrated groan Taylor slumped into a chair, "We have to do something!"

"Come on Taylor," muttered Andrea, pulling the other girl towards the door, "we have to find her first."

*

Kelly felt only slightly guilty as she walked away from Taylor. Maybe she had been a bit abrupt but seriously, what else had she expected? Grumbling to herself Kelly realized that Taylor would probably come after her and defiantly bring back up. Confrontation was not what Kelly wanted right now.

Slipping into the library, Kelly crept past Jenny, the librarian and sat down on the bay window seat, drawing the heavy moth-eaten curtains behind her. From here she could look out over most of the school grounds without being seen by anyone.

_Great! Taylor had to be the one to notice that I'm working over time. She does not know how to keep her mouth shut. She'll tell Rea and Rea'll tell the twins, who'll tell Annabell and ergh, the whole school will know by lunch time. As long as they don't tell Flash. Oh gorwd please don't let them tell Flash!_

Rubbing her head against her knee Kelly groaned silently as she tried to work out what she was going to do. About Taylor. About Jazz. And about Flash. Furiously she wiped away a few traitorous tears that had managed to escape. Well what ever she was going to do, it wouldn't get done by hiding in the library, she had her duties as head girl to think about and mostly likely, a party to plan.

*

"Attention everybody!" called Thwaits as he walked into the room, "We've been at this for three days, why do we only have one name?"

"In all fairness, Minister," Bethany Connors spoke up, "We don't have anything on Annabell Fritton besides her relation to the head mistress."

"Which is why," said the Minister with a tight smile, "I sincerely hope you have something more useful for me today. I cannot imagine how incompetent you would have to be not to!"

After Thwaits' thinly veiled accusation work moved more swiftly. The department members became more egar to accuse the girls and names were compiled thick and fast. First Peaches, the daughter of a foreign diplomat expelled from sixteen schools in the last four years, then Chloe, Chelsea, Celia, a member of the aristocracy no less, who's family had held a chair in the House of Lords for generations. Polly, expelled from her last school for hacking into MI5's files, and only managing to escape jail when she convinced the court that she'd done it by accident. After all she'd only been fourteen at the time and how could a child hack into the best guarded files in the country? There was obviously a system error. Thwaits was almost happy with their work and then a new name was added to the list.  
Andrea Norton._  
Jackpot. _


	10. Chapter 10

"Well gentlemen, ladies, I have to say, you have done very well. We only need a few more allegations against the girls and teaching staff and we'll be able to make our move," Thwaits looked around the room at his department and was about to leave when a voice made him halt.

"Sir?"

Thwaits turned around to see one of the newer members of the department hurrying forwards, Thomas Beckman, quickly caught up and continued talking, "Instead of a few more allegations, how about one serious one?"

Thwaits glared briefly at Beckman, he was far too cocky for someone working against St. Trinian's.

"We already have a serious allegation against Miss Norton. What could be worse than arson?" Asked Thwaits belittlingly, but this didn't seem to have the desired effects as Beckman's smile grew larger.

"I think I may be able to trump arson. Tell me, how much do you know about Kelly Jones..."

*

Andrea carefully inched towards the dormitory door, Taylor following directly behind her. The rest of the girls had finally gone to sleep and they were making the quickest exit they could.

Suddenly, two bright lights flicked on, half blinding the two girls. Andrea staggered back, raising her arms to try and shield herself from the beams and managed to crash straight into Taylor. In turn, Taylor lurched to the slide, trying to get out of Andrea's way but catching her foot in amongst a rather elaborate shoe collection fell directly on top of Annabell, who until that point, had been fast asleep in bed.

The chaos which followed was nothing short of spectacular as Annabell shrieked in alarm, Taylor tried to free herself from the shoes and Andrea flailed blindly for the lights.

To identical giggles shot through the darkness, causing the older girls to freeze.

"Tara, Tanya? Is that you?" whispered Andrea.

The touches swivelled round until they illuminated the faces of two small blonde girls, their faces smudged with gun power and their hair falling out of their plaits. They both smiled innocently up at the older girls.

"What's going on?" asked Annabell sleepily.

Shushing everyone, Taylor ushered the entire party out of the dorm room, praying that no one else would wake up. When they reached an empty classroom away from the dorm Taylor and Andrea exchanged glances, unsure of what to do.

"Well?" asked Annabell, annoyed at being woken but extremely curious as to what was going on.

"Maybe we should get Kelly," suggested Tara slyly, causing panic to flash across Taylor and Andrea's faces.

"No, no, no, we'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell Kelly," exclaimed Taylor.

"She'll kill us," added Andrea bluntly.

The other three nodded quickly, now even more egger to find out what they were up to.

"Well you know Kelly's been a bit odd lately," began Andrea slowly, torn between wanting to rant about how serious a thing must be affecting Kelly and not wanting to make her look weak. "Well we don't know how to snap her out of it."

"So we're going to get Flash," butted in Taylor.

"We know," chirped the twins.

"I didn't," muttered Annabell.

"What! How did you know?" exclaimed Taylor.

"We guessed," They answered with a shrug, "Flash is the only one who can actually get through to Kell', so it's obvious you'd go get him."

"So will Kelly be ok soon? She's been in a really bad way lately." Asked Annabell, worriedly.

Andrea nodded vaguely, "Yeah, Flash always leave emergency contact details so we're gunna go 'n' get him."

"Why not just call him, though?" Tanya piped up.

"Tried, answer phone," muttered Taylor shortly, now desperate to get away before Kelly woke up and caught them.

"Listen," order Andrea as she grabbed Taylor and the two began to back towards the main school door, "If Kelly asks where we are make her think that we're pissed off with her and avoiding her, 'kay?"

And with that they dashed out the door and down the road to where a taxi was waiting, the driver had flat refused to come right up to the actual school. Once they were seated in the back of the cab Taylor turned to Andrea, "This will work won't it?"

"Course it will stupid, Flash would walk on water for Kelly," said Andrea confidently but underneath she was worried. Neither of them wanted to watch their best friend become any more depressed.

*

"You mean that slut of a head girl?" asked Thwaits, visibly bristling, "she assaulted Verity at a hockey game!"

"Well that's hardly surprising," chimed Beckman in condescending manner, while he leisurely inspected his finger nails, "after all she does have direct links to The Phoenix Gang."

"What!" yelled Thwaits, causing several people to turn and stare, "How do you know this?"

Beckman smiled smugly; Thwaits' reaction had been even better than he had hoped. "The last department I worked for was trying to crack the gang, unfortunately the gang cracked the department first and we were disbanded, however we did manage to track a substantial amount of stolen money to the account of one Kelly Jones and from there into the St. Trinian's account. Of course the account wasn't in her name but we have CCTV footage of her opening it, plus experts agree that there is a 47% match between their hand writing. Not that we need the evidence, we simply lead her to believe that we know more than we do and she will very well sell out her school to protect her interests in the gang. Then we arrest her as well. She is, after all, almost as bigger threat to society as the school it's self. I mean, what kind of a person would be made head girl of that institution?"

At this both Beckman and Thwaits visibly shuddered.

*

"'Ello Dad," grinned Harry as he answered the phone. Sure his old man was getting on a bit, but in this line of work that just meant that you were seriously good at what you did, "How's everything going in your neck of the woods?"

"Well maybe you'd know, if you so designed to visit every so often," huffed a gruff voice from the other end of the line, the tone was filled with annoyance but Harry knew his Dad well enough to hear the amusement colouring his speech, "How's St. T's?"

"It's good, it's good. The twins finally sorted out their vodka, so that's doing well. Although, we might be able to use some of the earlier attempts for those 'business meetings' you've got coming up. Just make sure you don't drink any yourself," chuckled Harry, "Miss F sends her love."

"And send her mine," he replied cheerfully before taking on a more serious tone, "Listen Harry, I know you enjoy working with St. T's but its time you come and join the real family business. We've always helped the school out as a favour to the wonderful Fritton women, but that's what it is, a favour. Let one of your cousins' take over there. We need you here. We are a family, Harry. The only other gang we're one decent terms with is The Phoenix Gang, the rest are breathing down our necks. And who was it that got us on decent terms with The Phoenix Gang? You. You've proved that you can do it and now it's time to step up. Just think about it Harry. St. Trinian's may be important to you, but family comes first. Think about it."

Harry sighed deeply; it was always like this when he spoke to his Dad. He didn't understand his reasons behind staying so long at St. Trinian's. He'd never mentioned Kelly to him and now he doubted he ever would. After Kelly had kissed him it had been like everything in his life suddenly made sense and fitted together. It was perfect. She was perfect. He really should have known better. He'd known her long enough. He should have seen it coming. He'd thought that maybe things had finally changed between them and when the Ice Queen mask fell back into place it hurt like hell. Perhaps he should stop kidding himself. Kelly didn't love him, probably never had. Most likely case scenario she had only kissed him because she was shaken by what had happened. That was all.

"I will think about it Dad," said Harry seriously, "And I'll be at the meeting next week. Your right; family comes first."

*

"You girls better not be up to any trouble," said the taxi driver, eyeing their St. Trinian's uniforms suspiciously, "This is a nice area, they don't tolerate no funny business here, no they don't."

Andrea rolled her eyes, the one time they actually weren't up to anything...

"Nope," said Taylor popping her 'p', "We're just visiting a friend."

The taxi driver continued to grumble but didn't say anything else until, "So which building was it that you wanted?"

Taylor pulled out the card with the address written on it and read it to him.

The driver let out a low whistle, "That's some friend you've got there."

"What do you mean?" asked Taylor curiously.

"Well flats in London aren't exactly cheap and penthouse apartments like that one cost a small fortune," he explained, obviously a lot more happy now he knew that his passengers were connected with well to do people.

"Penthouse apartments?!?" mouthed Taylor and Andrea, exchanging incredulous looks, did they have the right place?

*

Jazz tried to shake herself out of thought as the car drew up to the apartment block where the meeting was being held. Despite being so upset about Kelly keeping a secret from her, she had been keeping one from Kelly. As the leader of her gang she had often met Flash in a capacity that had nothing to do with St. Trinian's. Flash's family had been in the criminal business far longer than her's and the alliance that she and Flash had forged between the two groups had proved invaluable to both. Flash's expertise and her wide spread influence had allowed them to evade the police and take out opposing gangs. Plus Flash's feelings for Kelly had made him happy to propose the idea to his Father in the first place. However, after all that had happened, Jazz was worried that the tension between the two could break down relations; he was probably angry with her for leaving Kelly, hell, she was angry with herself for leaving Kelly! Yet she still couldn't bring herself to contacts her, knowing that she had lied to her.

The meeting was between members from influential gangs and organisations around the world and it was to be hosted by Flash. It was important. Very important. For now all thoughts of Kelly and St. Trinian's would have to be pushed aside, there was working to be done.


	11. Chapter 11

Harry's Dad had been thrilled when in top of agreeing to attend the meeting, Harry had also agreed to host it. He happily poured himself and his son a drink from the decanter as they waited for the first of their guests to arrive.

"You know son, I've been thinking," Harry senior passed Flash a glass of brandy and chinked them together before sitting down opposite him, "how was it you did manage to get relations with the Phoenix Gang so good so quickly?"

Flash threw back his drink and turned to face his old man; he didn't miss a trick and had probably been waiting until the two were face to face so that Flash couldn't avoid the question, "I already knew Jazz."

Whatever Harry Senior had been expecting it wasn't that, "Oh? Where from?"

Flash briefly considered lying but there wasn't really any point, "Her cousin is the Head girl at St. Trinian's; I've known them both for years."

Harry looked like he might reply but was cut off by a ring of the door bell followed by voices as one of their men answered the door.

"Speak of the devil," grinned Flash and setting down his glass walked out of the room to greet Jazz.

Harry sat a few moments longer, swirling the remaining brandy around his glass, "And the devil will appear," he concluded, taking his seat at the head of the conference table, ready for the meeting to proceed.

*

"Jazz, Dan how are you?" Flash greeted the girl and her second in command.

"Well, thank you," Jazz answered for the both of them, keeping a formal air that characterised their meetings outside of St. Trinian's, "I'm surprised to see you here; I thought you'd still be at the school."

Flash shook his head, an odd expression shooting across his face, "No, I left the day after you did."

Jazz opened her mouth in surprise but was cut shot as other people began to arrive and Flash had to move on to greet them. She shook her head, she'd sworn that this would only be a business meeting and she was already on the verge of quizzing Flash on Kelly, she needed to get her game face on.

She took her place to the left of Harry senior at the table with Dan to her left, opposite her Flash sat down, nodding at her once before turning to his Dad, waiting for him to begin. There were twelve people sat around the conference table, representing seven major league criminal organisations, and every person in the room would be speaking at some point, so long as no body offended anyone else too badly, then Flash felt optimistic that the meeting would go without a hitch.

"Sir?" the man who had been watching the front door now stood at Harry senior's side, "There are two girls here asking to see Flash Harry."

Harry turned to his son, "Your call kid."

Flash shook his head slowly, "We break in half an hour, I'll see them then."

Harry nodded and grunted his approval, but the man hesitated, "Well, is there anything else."

"They told me to tell you sir, that it's about a Kelly Jones, sir."

At this Jazz's head snapped up as she waited for Flash's response, hearing Kelly's name had thrown Flash slightly, he glanced up at his Father's now puzzled face and steeled himself, he'd decided he needed to put St. Trinian's behind him and focus on the family business; that was where he was needed. "I'll see them in half an hour."

Flash looked down as the man walked away to relay his message, for some reason, not able to meet Jazz's eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Harry senior stood up to begin the meeting and both Flash and Jazz forced themselves to focus on what he was saying; it was time for business.

*

"Are you sure you told him the right name?" asked an impatient Taylor as she and Andrea were shown into a sitting room to wait for Flash.

"Yes Miss," replied the exasperated man, "Kelly Jones, just as you said. He will see you when the meeting breaks."

Taylor grumbled loudly and threw herself down onto a sofa, popping her gum loudly.

The man looked relieved that she had finally stopped questioning him and hastily exited shutting the door behind him, as soon as he left Taylor started again, "There's no way he gave Flash the right message! Flash would walk on water for Kelly!"

"I'm sure he's just busy," replied the calmer voice of Andrea, although she too was worried that Flash may not prove as reliable as they had thought, "he'll be here as soon as he can."

Taylor simply rolled her eyes and ignored Andrea, tapping her foot impatiently and waiting for the time to pass.

*

"Right well I think we have been at this long enough, I think a fifteen minute break is in order, we'll finish the deal on Irish trading rights once we return," Harry senior finally closed the first section of the meeting and Flash slowly rose out of his chair, careful not to appear over egger.

"Hey Flash," Jazz called as he left, "I have to take a call but I'll want to know what's going on with Kell' when you get back."

Flash nodded once over his shoulder as he left the room and walked into the sitting room where Taylor and Andrea were bickering quietly.

"Girls?" he asked, getting their attention.

"Finally!" Taylor exclaimed, glaring at Flash.

"Flash we need your help," said Andrea bluntly, "Kelly's a mess."

Flash blinked a few times_, remember your decision_, "Look Kelly can handle herself, I'm sure she's fine."

Silence greeted this last remark as the two girls gapped at him, Taylor was the first to snap out of it, "Are you messing wiv me? Cos if you are then I've got news for you mate, I will give you a slap!"

Andrea resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Taylor but nodded her head in agreement, "Flash she's really depressed or something, we don't know what to do; you snapped her out of it last time!"

Flash sat down with a huff, "Look, you girls are her best mates, if she isn't listening to you, then why would she listen to me?"

"Because she's crazy about you!" Andrea exclaimed, _honestly, how could anyone be that dense?_

"She's not though," Flash insisted, "you all heard her that night, she thinks I'm a player, end of. I'll have someone drive you back to school."

And with that he stood to leave and would have done so if Jazz hadn't charged into the room at that precise moment, crashing into Flash, "Sorry Flash," she gasped.

"Jazz?" asked Taylor looking completely confused, "what are you doing here?"

Jazz waved the question away, grapping the TV remote, "Later. Now, Flash you need to see this."

Turning the TV on, she switched to the correct channel and turned the volume up. Flash shot her a questioning look but she merely gestured for him to watch the screen.

"_Hello and we're here at St. Trinian's school where the most extraordinary events are taking place. About twenty minutes ago, government forces entered the building ,including some heavily armed military men. This latest move by Minister of Education, Geoffrey Thwaits has met allot of criticism from parent's rights groups who feel that he has gone too far however the Minister had this to say:"_

The screen flashed to a shot of Thwaits, stood in front of the St. Trinian's building, with photographer's flashes going off around him.

"_It has come to my attention that the majority of people residing at this school are in serious breach of the law, students and teachers alike. The numbers were too great for us to arrest the guilty individuals and so until an appropriate holding facility can be found the school will be serving as their prison. Innocent individuals will over course be released however, as of yet, none have been identified."_

The image flashed back to Denise who was talking about the finding of 'The girl with the pearl earring' but Flash had stopped listening.

"Oh shit," murmured Taylor, echoing the thoughts of everyone in the room.

"Oh no...." whispered Andrea, "What are we going to do?"

Flash looked at the two panicky girls then at Jazz_; make that three panicky girls._

"Kelly will know what to do," he said confidently.

Taylor tuned on him, "Were you not listen to anything we just said? Kelly is a mess. She can't handle this right now!"

"Kelly...." whispered Andrea suddenly, her eyes filling with terror, "If we don't do something they will lock her up for the rest of her life."

Silence greeted this last remark as Jazz began to shake her head, "They have no evidence, we covered everything up."

"Ha!" Andrea let out a biting laugh, "You think they need evidence? She's Head girl and she's Kelly; she will take the rap for everybody in the school."

Taylor nodded sadly, "Look on the bright side Morti, Flash here may be too much of a coward to help," here Taylor glared fiercely at Flash, "But at least they won't get you with those arson charges."

"That's true," nodded Andrea, glaring at Flash as well, "since all of us here are gits who only look out for our selves, I suppose we'll just be leaving Kelly and the rest of the girls to fend for themselves now."

"Yep, that's right, Bye Flash, we have to go n hide from the feds now, later," Taylor finished as she and Andrea began to walk towards the door.

_Family comes first. Family comes first. Family comes first. Family comes first. Family comes first._

Flash repeated his mantra over and over as the girls stormed past him, _Family comes first. Family comes first. Family comes first. _

"I guess Kelly was right not to put her faith in you Flash. We both know she couldn't take another let down..." Andrea trailed off as Taylor pulled open the door.

_Family comes first. Family comes first. Family come... Oh this is pointless._

"James!" Flash called and the man who had shown Andrea and Taylor in appeared at the door, "Send my Father my apologises, tell him there was an emergency."

Taylor and Andrea exchanged high-fives; they knew Flash wouldn't leave them hanging.

"Jazz, you coming?" Flash called as he sprinted out of the apartment and called for the lift, the two girls hot on his heels.

Jazz paused for a moment, undecided, looking back into the conference room she caught Dan's eye. She nodded to him once before taking off after Flash; there was no way she was missing this.


	12. Chapter 12

The entire population of St. Trinian's had barricaded themselves in the girls' dormitory at the top of the school; pupil and teacher alike were packed into the room whilst the sixth formers pushed beds and wardrobes against the door.

Polly and her geeks has set up a large screen projector and were monitoring the men's progress through the school on camera's shouting to the others whenever they made it past another obstacle or booby-trap.

"Girls! Has anyone seen Taylor or Andrea?" Kelly shouted above the noise. A few girls paused to shake their heads negative before continuing with what they were doing.

"Kelly, I've checked the entire school, they aren't here," Polly reported from her laptop, "they must have gotten out."

Kelly nodded her thanks to the geek before snatching up her mobile and dialling Andrea's number, after only a few rings the phone was answered.

"_Kelly?"_

"Yes, it's me Rea, where are you? Is Taylor with me?" Kelly snapped, anxiety making her tense and harsher than she had meant it to sound.

"_We're fine Kelly, Taylor's here. Don't worry, we were off the grounds when everything went down; we've got back up and we're on the way back."_

"Thank goodness," breathed Kelly, "We were worried Thwaits had got you. Now what do you mean back up?"

"_Flash and Jazz, we found them both. What's going at St. T's?" _

"We've barricaded ourselves in the dorm; Thwait's men are on the first floor and approaching the second. As soon as they reach the third floor we need a new plan." Kelly explained rapidly, trying to keep her voice low so as not to panic any of the girls who may overhear.

There was a brief commotion on the other end of the line and then Kelly heard Flash speak_, "Kelly? Get the twins; I've got an idea..."_

*

By the time Flash's car rolled up to St. Trinian's, the place was swarming by news crews and policemen, the main school gate hand been barricaded and all comings and goings were being conducted through the smaller side gate, under the watchful eyes of several armed guards.

"Right, Andrea, Taylor, you two stay in the car; if they see you they'll arrest you," Flash ordered, "Jazz, wait for me to get in position then send the girls the signal."

Jazz nodded; pulling out her cell phone while Flash climbed out of the car and walked casually over to the reporters, "Excuse me mate," he addressed one of the reporters, "Haven't heard anything from inside have we?"

Before the man could answer Flash's phone began to ring loudly, he shot the man an apologetic glance and snapped open his phone, his face immediately creasing with worry when he heard the voices on the other end, "Tara, Tanya, are you OK?"

"No, no, don't cry, I'm going to sort it all out, yes I promise."  
The reporters around him were looking at him curiously; the one who he had addressed nodded to his Denise and waved her over.

"Yes I know you want to go home."

"Sir, I'm sorry but are you speaking to the girls inside?" Denise asked excitedly, they had been unable to get any contact all day.

Flash nodded to her and mouthed 'my little sisters.'

"Tara, Tanya don't talk at once, listen slow down, I need to write this down," turning from the phone he placed it down and clicked it onto speaker phone so that everyone could hear the girl's voices on the other end, pulling a note book and pen from his pocket he began to scribble notes, "Say that again Tara."

"_I'm scared Harry,"_ the small voice came from the phone, _"There are all these men everywhere and I don't like it."_

"Listen to me, it's all going to be OK, just repeat what you said so I can write it down," Flash spoke calmly, ignoring all the listen reporters who he had hanging on his every word.

"_OK Harry, the older girls are real scared, me and Tanya, we heard Kelly talking to Polly. They thought we were asleep. Kelly said that the men all have guns and that she when went to try and tell Thwaits to let the first years go, they shot at her!"_

"What! They shot her, is she alright?"

Suddenly there was a loud crash and screaming from the other end of the phone, _"Harry!"_ one of the twins voices cried out.

Another voice could be heard down the phone_, "Tara, Tanya, get off the phone, I need you to go and hide. Please girls, go with the other first years, now!"_

Suddenly the phone went dead and Flash snatched it up, redialling the number but to no avail. He was quickly overwhelmed by reporters who had heard his convocation with the twins.

"Sir, is it true that one of the girls' was fired at?"

"Who's Kelly?"

"Sir, what do you think the screaming at the end meant?"

Flash quickly looked up at the school, the convocation with the twins had gone well; it hadn't sounded pre-planned at all, the screaming at the end had shaken him though, that hadn't been part of the plan.

Turning back to the reporters he cleared his throat and began to answer the questions which were still being shouted at him, "Yes I just got off the phone with my sisters, no they're only ten. Kelly is the Head girl, yes she was shot at. I don't know if she was injured but I wouldn't be surprised; Thwaits has brought soldiers in.

Yes, I've met the girls of St. Trinian's on a number of occasions, criminals? No, they most defiantly are not. Yes, they're very responsible, at the present very scared, but very responsible, Kelly was trying to negotiate the release of the first years when they shot at her. Yes of course I'm worried."

Then, turning to Denise he said the magic word to send the media into a frenzy, "Excuse me, I need to call my lawyers."

*

There was a loud crash as the men outside began to hammer on the door, Kelly scanned the room quickly and spotted Tara and Tanya huddled on the bed over a phone, "Tara, Tanya, get off the phone, I need you to go and hide. Please girls, go with the other first years, now!" Kelly shouted a note of desperation in her voice.

The twins hurried to follow Saffron and the other remaining first years through a secret tunnel in the side of the dorm, it wasn't very big but the first years were able to squeeze inside. Kelly handed them a touch and hugged them briefly, "Listen girls, stay hidden until you get told otherwise. Flash is out front with Taylor and Andrea but there are also more men and reporters down there so be careful, now go!"

Pushing the girls inside, Kelly shut the panel in the wall and pushed a bed in front of it. Before hurrying to help the other girls, the soldiers on the other side were banging at the door, already reducing it to splinters.

"Kelly!" she looked up to see that Polly was waving her over, "Kelly, that passage, where does it come out?"

Kelly thought briefly, "The Kitchens,"

Polly looked aghast, "But it's swimming with guards down there!"

"Yeah well," said Kelly grimly, grapping her hockey stick, "it will be up here in a minute too."

*

"Sir, we have a problem," Thwait's assistant nervously ran up to him.

"Well? What is it? Can't you see I'm busy?"Thwaits snapped, _only one door between him and that vile lot now!_

"Sir, we lost public opinion," he replied hurriedly, "the press found out that we shot at that girl, The PM in insisting that we pull back until the whole mess has been sorted out."

Thwaits growled and ground his teeth in frustration.

"Sir, should I give the order to pull back?"

*

"Flash! There not pulling back!" Jazz shouted, waving her mobile in the air.

Flash looked up from where he had been talking to some reporters, "What do you mean 'he's not pulling back'? The Prime Minister ordered him to!"

Jazz grimaced, "And Thwaits is ignoring those orders!"

A gasp went up from the media; this was fast becoming a scandal, exactly what they needed to further their careers. Hurrying back to the car Flash climbed into the back where Taylor and Andrea had flattened the seats and the boot and set up some computers, most of which contained live feed from the schools security cameras. The central one had a web cam on top and was being used to communicate with the rest of the girls in the dorm.

Kelly's face filled the screen as she spoke rapidly, "You guys need to get out of there. We'll be fine; we can get out of anything but you should leave before Thwaits finds you. Please go now!"

"Not going to happen," replied Jazz flatly, glaring back at her cousin.

"Andrea, Taylor, that is an order, get out of there," Kelly snapped, changing tactics, knowing her cousin was easily as stubborn as her.

Andrea rolled her eyes and Taylor was about to reply when Flash let loose a string of colourful curses, causing everyone to start.

"Kelly, I take it your watching the cameras?" Flash asked tersely.

"Of course we are Flash, there under constant monitoring," Kelly frowned, she had a feeling what was coming and didn't like it, "Don't go there Flash, I know what you're thinking and don't."

"Kelly," Flash actually growled at the screen, "That bastard, standing next to Thwaits, is that who I think it is?"

Kelly glared at Flash before nodding.

Flash looked aghast, "And you want me to leave?"

Kelly nodded again, "Polly and I heard him and Verity talking, he's out to get you Flash, no one else, just you."

"Kelly, I can handle him," he stated, "But if you think I'm leaving you in there with the bastard that tried to..."

"That will do Flash," interrupted Kelly sharply, "I know exactly what happened, I don't need you to refresh my memory."

The two glared at each other for a time, both stubbornly refusing to back down. After several minutes of silence Flash broke off, "I'm calling in back up," he said bluntly and climbed out of the car before Kelly could argue.

Unable to storm out Kelly gave the camera a final withering glare before she switched it off, leaving three very annoyed girls left in the backseat of Flash's car.

"I hate being left in the dark!" Jazz exclaimed angrily.


	13. Chapter 13

Harry Senior tapped his pen impatiently; _the inconsequential drivel that these people seemed to find necessary was going to drive him mad if he had to listen to another minute of it._ _And where had Flash gone? Honesty, he finally sees sense and comes to join the business and the second those school girls turn up he's off again. _Then there was Dan, he had met the man several times during various meetings with The Phoenix Gang and he always seemed calm, but for the past half an hour he had been typing away furiously on his phone, muttering under his breath occasionally.

He was on the verge of asking Dan to put his mobile away when he felt his own vibrating in his pocket.

"Excuse me, Ladies, Gentlemen," Harry stood walking away from the table, "I believe this should explain my son's sudden departure."

Closing the door, the smile which had been there for the benefit of his business associates dissolved, "Son, you'd better have one hell a reason for walking out,"

"_Dad, I'm sorry, just turn on the news,"_

"Flash, you know I don't buy your vague answers," he growled down the phone.

"_Just watch it, Dad,"_

Still grumbling under his breath he snatched up the remote and switched on the TV, to be greeted by the annoying voice of Denise, "I hate that woman," he grumbles.

"_Moments ago there was a shocking update from inside St. Trinian's, after we received information that the Minister of Education had authorised the soldiers to fire at the girls, the Prime Minister issued an immediate order for him to exit the school, however, in a shocking turn of events Geoffrey Thwaites has ignored this command and is continuing his advance into the school. We have had no contact from within since the shocking phone call previously, we now fear for the girls within as Thwaites has clearly become a loose cannon."_

Harry blinked at the TV, for the first time in memory, lost for words, "That's where you went?"

"_I'm sorry Dad, but all the girls are in there, Milla as well. Dad, I need help."_

Sitting down heavily he grabbed a glass of scotch and sighed, "Flash, I wish you'd told me sooner. I'll send in the troops."

"_Thanks Dad,"_

"Oh and Flash, if you think you can convince me that there isn't a girl at the root of this, then your an idiot." Chuckling loudly he snapped the phone shut.

"Flash! Flash, what's happening? I swear if you don't tell me this second..." Jazz waited until Flash clicked the phone shut to start yelling.

Flash glanced up quickly, looking at the reporters to make sure none of them were listening, he seemed to be trying to work out whether Jazz would cause a bigger scene knowing or not knowing, catching sight of her expression he quickly make up his mind, "Fine, but keep the volume down."

"Talk!" she exclaimed impatiently but more quietly.

"Look I'm pretty sure you worked out what happened the other day when I brought Kelly back, when she'd been drinking. Well the guy who tried it, the one I beat up, he's with Thwaites; he's in the building." Flash muttered rapidly, eyes glued to the school as if he could see what was happening inside by staring hard enough.

"What! You mean the guy who..."Jazz shrieked before Flash clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Volume down," he muttered, "Do you think that's the kind of thing Kelly would want getting out?"

Jazz glared briefly at him before sighing, "Sorry Flash."

"Believe me, I hate what's going on just as much as you, I hate that he's in there with her while I'm out here," shakes his head, "Help is on the way. We even have the media on our side this time, everything will be fine."

Jazz isn't sure whether he's trying to reassure her or himself so she nods mutely, watching as Flash runs a hand through his hair and paces agitatedly.

The silence was on the verge of becoming uncomfortable when Taylor pushed open the car door, "Oi Flash, Kelly want to talk to ya!"

Kelly tapped her nails impatiently as she waited for Flash to appear on screen, Chelsea had the guard's attention for now, and probably would for quite some time but that was only providing no Thwaites' didn't come back.

"_Taylor's just getting him,"_ Andrea murmured and sure enough, in the background Kelly could hear her calling Flash.

A moment later the camera swung round bring Flash into view, his face was tense with worry but he was trying to hide it so Kelly pretended to not notice, "Flash, Thwaites' has made an offer. He'll let the first years go if six members of the upper school tell the media that the rumours about guns and force being used are untrue; he wants the PM back on his side."

"_Damn, I rather liked having him on our side. What you going to do?"_

"Yeah so did I but I can't see another option, I want the first years out of here before any of them can get hurt." Kelly confessed, annoyed that for now at least, it looked like Thwaites had the upper hand.

"_Actually,"_ Jazz grinned slowly, _"Thwaites' may have given us just the opening we need."_

"Well?" sneered Thwaites, knowing full well that the so called 'Head Girl' had no choice but to accept his offer.

Kelly glared defiantly back, not letting the idiot intimidate her, "Very well Thwaites', it's a deal. On the condition that you release every single one of the first years, and I want to actually see them leave those gates after ensuring that all of them are present and then and only then will we lie to the media for you."

Thwaites snorted causing Kelly to shoot a look of disgust his way but he seemed not to care, "Please, and if I did that what guarantee would I have that you won't blab the truth to the tabloids, no, I don't think so. I will let all but one of the first years go and if you want that one to join her friends then you will say exactly what I tell you to, got that?"

Kelly forced a look of frustration to cross her face as if Thwaites' had called her bluff, "Fine." She bit out shortly, striding away, fighting the whole way to keep the smile off her face; things had gone exactly as she had hoped. Now she just needed to fill the Twins in and everything would be going according to plan.


	14. Chapter 14

Tanya had won the coin toss and in a few minutes Thwaits would be picking her to stay behind when the rest of the first years left, he didn't know this yet but Polly was certain the man's mind worked in such a way that he would pick her.

So when Thwaits entered the room where Kelly was waiting with the first years until they were released, Tanya burst into tears and threw herself at Kelly.

"But I don't want you to have to stay here!" she wailed pitifully, catching Thwait's attention.

"Don't worry Tanya," Kelly replied soothingly, speaking loudly enough for Thwaits to over-hear, "All that matters is that you get to safety, don't worry about me."

With a sadistic smirk painted across his features Thwaits strode over to the girls, "I think we've found our volunteer to stay behind, don't you?"

Kelly shot up, spinning round to face him, a look of panic evident on her face, "No! You can't!"

"Oh but I can," he sneered, and then addressing Tanya, "I'm afraid you won't be leaving just yet. I need you to stay here and make sure that this lot behave themselves.

Tanya's bottom lip wobbled dangerously as Kelly glared fiercely at the man, extremely satisfied when he left quickly with a slightly nervous cough.

As soon as he had departed Kelly allowed a satisfied smile to spread across her features as she turned to give the camera thumbs up and grinned at Tanya.

Just outside the school, Andrea turned from where she was monitoring the cameras, "Flash, he took the bait, get ready."

Nodding to Andrea, Flash hurried over to the reporter he had spoken to before, "Have you heard anything? I can't get hold of my sisters anymore." The man shook his head, "Sorry man, I'm sure they'll be fine. I'll keep you posted."

As he spoke Denise hurried over, snatching her microphone up, "Terry," she called to the reporter, "I've just got off the phone with the station, and they've had a call from Thwaites. He's going to let the media in to speak to the girls as soon as the first years are off site."

"The first years?" questioned Flash, "That's my sisters, thank God, I was so worried."

"See mate, told you everything would be fine," grinned Terry, clapping him on the shoulder.

Flash grinned back and turned towards the school as a din erupted, signalling the first years appearance. Jazz wasted no time in waving them over, Taylor and Andrea quickly slipping among them, crouching down and helping to make sure everyone was unhurt. Meanwhile, Tara broke away from the group, sobbing convincingly and threw herself at Flash.

"Tara, what's wrong?" asked Flash, kneeling down to her level, "where's Tanya?"

Hearing what was happening, Terry and Denise both walked over, exchanging looks of concern upon spotting Tara's tear stained face.

"Tanya's... Tanya's still... She's still in the school!" Tara managed to gasp out between sobs, before turning and running into Flash's car, slamming the door behind her. Jazz looked up, worried and Flash quickly nodded for her to go after the seemingly distraught girl.

Ever lacking tact, Denise marched over and tapped him on the shoulder, "Excuse me, I'm sorry but didn't you say both of your sisters are first years. So why didn't, Tanya -did you say she was called? - come out with the others?"

"I don't know," muttered Flash, burying his face in his hands, mentally congratulating himself for not laughing at Tara's over the top performance.

At that moment, Jazz climbed out of the car and walked over, concern deeply etched on her face. "Flash, Thwaits didn't let Tanya leave."

The heads of all those within hearing range shot up, "What!" exclaimed Flash, standing up suddenly.

"He kept her back so that he has leverage. He threatening Kelly, saying he won't let Tanya go unless she tells the reporters what he wants." Jazz explained looking both furious and worried at the same time.

Terry cursed under his breath, putting a hand on Flash's shoulder, "That guy's lost it. Something's got to be done."

"Something will be," confirmed Flash, "Can you get us inside with the reporters?"

Terry glanced at Denise who nodded, barely containing her excitement at what a scandal this was becoming, "Absolutely, I have several extra press passes."

"Alright then, this is what we're going to do..."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Sorry, this is the same chapter as before but for some reson all my text had been bunched up so I've re-uploaded to fix that. **

As soon as Flash had used his newly acquired press pass to get into the school he detached himself from the group and slipped round the back of the school to the back entrance to his workshops, frowning when he saw Tania waiting for him there.

"What you doing here?" he asked worriedly, "I thought Kell was going to meet me."

The small girl shrugged, unconcerned, "Thwaites insisted on her being there to meet the press, he thinks he's clever with the blackmail thing. Recons she'll say what he wants her to."

Snorting at the idiocy of the man Flash handed a bag to Tania, "And will she?"

"Kelly says it's not what you say to the press, it's how you say it too them."

Kelly had swapped her usual vibrant lipstick for a more natural tone, her stilettos for a pair of pumps and removed her choker all together. She sat demurely next to an equally dressed down Chelsea. It had taken some serious bribery to get her to lose the minuscule skirt but the promise of time off school to shop whenever she chose had done the trick and she looked like the perfect lady. After all, image was everything and the reporters would be here soon.

"...and I'm sure once you have seen the attitude of the girls, you will understand the need for this emergency situation." Thwait's voice drifted through the doors as he and the press pack filed in.

As expected Thwaites entered last, having ushered everyone else inside and as soon as he did Chelsea plastered a look of terror on her face and grasped Kelly's hand, while Kelly, although she looked equally as scared, patted Chelsea's hand reassuringly. The reporters, on noticing their behaviour exchanged glances of concern and glared accusingly at Thwaites, who, in all his blustering, had failed to notice.

"Right, I'm sure you have some questions for the girls" he began, finally turning from the door to the reporters, "they have been instructed to answer you truthfully as any lies will only add to their punishments."

Upon this announcement Chelsea let out a pathetic whimper which was quickly hushed by Kelly, but not quickly enough to escape the notice of the reporters.

"Poor child!" exclaimed Denise, glaring at Thwaites, "It's quite alright Dear, I'm sure Mr Thwaites is very grateful to you for helping."

Chelsea opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a rather panicked looking Kelly, "Yes, of course, we know. Everything's fine here. The rumours are all false. Mr Thwaites is entirely justified in his actions."

Her statements were met by a general air of confusion from the reporters; tales of the girls of St. Trinian's spoke of wild, high spirited and unruly girls – these two were none of the above. One of the girls they had met the last time they visited the school and the other they were told was the Head Girl, so what had caused such a prominent change in their behaviour. Denise and Terry exchanged pointed glances, afraid they knew.

"Oh yes," Chelsea agreed, nodding furiously, "Mr. Thwaites was molerly correct in everything he's done."

"Morally, Chelsea! He was morally correct," hissed Kelly, looking even close to despair than before.

Chelsea's eyes went wide and she quickly hurried to correct herself but the damage had been done.

"Mr. Thwaits, did you tell these girls what to say to us?" cried one reporter.

While Thwaites' blustered his way through attempts to assure everyone that this was not the case, Denise slipped over the Kelly and Chelsea, "Are you Kelly; the Head Girl?"

Kelly nodded slowly, casting a nervous glance at Thwaites for good measure.

Smiling in a way that she thought was reassuring, Denise patted her hand and held out a bag for her, "Harry's in the school, he's awfully cross about his sister and is coming to help. Another girl, she said she was your cousin, told me to give this to you, apparently it'll be helpful."

"Thank you so much," Kelly gave a grateful smile before letting out a small sob, "I'm support to protect them, I'm their Head girl, I just feel like I've let them down."

The sight of one of the county's leading reporters comforting a distraught Head girl clearly said that the press would be siding with the girls in this matter, and completely spoilt Thwaites good mood.

When Chelsea and Kelly re entered the dormitory, they were greeted by cheers and whoops from the other girls.

"Excellent performance girls, "smiled Polly, "You had them eating out of the palm of your hands."

"Don't we always?" simpered Chelsea, before heading over to her dresser to re apply her makeup.

Kelly smiled at the Tottie, before turning to the rest of the girls, "It's going well. Thwaites is angry, which means he's more likely to do something stupid. We just have to make sure we can channel that before he thinks of something on his own."

As Kelly was speaking, Tania burst into the room, pulling Flash behind her, "I got him Kell, and he brought the stuff."

Turning the bag upside down, a collection of minute ear pieces and microphones tumbled out on to the bed. Polly moved to inspect them and after a moment nodded her approval.

"Perfect," replied Kelly, all business again, "Polly, get everyone who needs one set up and tested, plus cameras on who you can. I got the other bag off Denise so we're good to go."

"Other bag?" asked Flash, confused, "What other bag?"

His confusion turned to a look of terror as Kelly rounded on him with a smirk spread across her face, "Just a few things we thought you might object to bringing in."

Letting out a shriek, Peaches, who had been rifling through Kelly's bag, jumped to her feet, clutching a tub of gel to her chest, "I'll do his hair!"

"No, no, no, no!" backing away from the girls, Flash tried futilely to move back towards the door, "nah, I let you dress me up like a prat for your last scheme, I ain't doing it twice!"

"I think you look good smartened up, very handsome" commented Kelly, causing Flash to falter.

"Kell, I looked like an utter ponce," however his tone had lost any real resistance and the girls grinned, knowing that he would never say no.


	16. Chapter 16

Thwaites sighed as he opened the door to Camilla's office, which he had commandeered as his own. The meeting with the press had not gone well; those spiteful, sly girls had twisted everything in their favour and made him look even worse! Well, they would come to regret it in the end. Before he had been content to just let them rot in jail but now it was personal; he would ensure that each last one of them was destroyed – especially that Head Girl! Still, he had information that could, and would, knock her off her high perch.

As he turned round, walking into the office he visibly started to see a man sitting in his chair with his feet up on the desk. "Who are you? And how did you get in here?"

Smirking at Thwaites' obvious discomfort, he swung his feet down and leant back, "You see that's your first problem; no people skills. See the polite thing to do would be to introduce yourself. That way all these army guys you've hired wouldn't hate your guts and I wouldn't have been able to just stroll in."

"What? You just walked in here?" asked Thwaites, making the mistake they had counted on in allowing himself to be drawn into conversation.

"Indeed I did," he grinned and held out a hand, "Harry Edwards, at your service."

Shaking his hand, Thwaites sat down heavily in the chair opposite, unhappily aware that Harry was in his seat, "And what are you doing here?"

Flash continued to grin, except now it was slightly darker, "I'm here to help. A few years back a girl from this hell hole nearly destroyed the reputation of my brother's business. You want to make them pay, I want to help."

Floundering in despair from the utter fail of the press conference, Thwaites latched urgently onto this new ally, "Of course! A want for revenge against these brats is something I can more than relate to; they destroyed my reputation and put my job in jeopardy," then as an afterthought, "and they broke up my marriage."

"Well I assume you have a suitable plan for revenge then?"

"Oh, of course I do..."  
Flash sat and listened as Thwaites gave him a detailed description of his plans to destroy the school and the girls within it; needless to say it disturbed him more than a little. Thwaites' obsessive streak had taken over and there was no chance of convincing him to give up. What was more worrying was the amount of dirt he had managed to gather on the girls, if he pressed charges there was no way they'd all be able to get off; they simply didn't have enough money to bribe that many juries.

Flash was thanking the stars that he'd made Andrea stay outside after hearing Thwaites' charges against her when his self control was really tested.

"...Of course, the best is what I have against the Head girl. That little skank will seriously regret messing me about by the time I'm finished."

"Oh?" Flash fought to keep his voice light, "what do you have on her then?"

* * *

The guards on the dormitory doors were already in Flash's pocket and they opened the doors for him without a word as he hurried forwards, "Kell, we've got a problem."

The girls of the dorm all looked up at his announcement, all with varying degrees of alarm on their faces.

Without a word, Kelly rose from her seat and pulled Flash away from the others, everyone was under enough stress at the moment and she would protect them from any more until it was no longer possible. If it was something she could deal with without worrying them, then she would.

"First, you're gunna need to get in touch with Andrea, tell her not to try to get into the school. It turns out Thwaites has been busy. Think of every criminal charge that's been covered up over the last five years, he's found it and is pressing charges. Andrea's arson fetish is near the top of his list." Flash rambled, running his hand through his hair every few seconds, a sure sign of worry.

Kelly fixed him with a piercing look, "There's something you're not telling me."

This time it was Flash who caught Kelly's arm, drawing her away from the curious mass of girls, "But all those charges, that's not what he's here for. Kell, he looks at you and he sees St. T's, he sees everything that's ever dared screw with him. He blames you and it's you he wants to get."

"I can handle him, Flash," she replied coolly, going to remove his grip on his arm but he didn't let go.

"Kell, he knows about Phoenix, not much, but enough to tie you to them. This just went beyond you and the girls. If he wins, there's a whole lot of dominos he's got lined up behind you, ready to fall."

Flash was serious, Flash was _never _serious. Kelly couldn't be frightened of Thwaites, she couldn't show fear, but seeing Flash serious was not helping her resolve on this point and caused her reply to come out much sharper she than intended it to, "Worried about losing a chunk from your profits, Flash?"

Flash's nostrils flared slightly but otherwise he remained calm, outwardly at least, but when he spoke it was with a steely resolve, "Kelly, I don't know what I've done to upset you, asides from being there every bloody time you've needed me. I go to ridiculous lengths to 'elp you n the school n I never ask for anything." Suddenly the tone was gone and he spoke in his usual manner, loudly enough for the others to hear, "well Milla n the teachers 'ave been locked in the staff room, I'm going to go n see how they're fairing, give me a shout when you need me."

* * *

"You have to tell her, Harry!"

Flash groaned in despair; Milla really wasn't listening to him, "I told you, I tried. Kell doesn't and never has, listen to me."

"I don't care if you have to hire a brass band to get the message across! Tell her! Camilla exclaimed. She knew her Head girl could be obstinate, but she also knew that she would put this ahead of personal pride.

"Look, if I went in there and said Thwaites was planning to do something to the school, to mess wiv one of the girls, then yeah, she'd believe me and do something. But it ain't. Thwaites is plannin' to mess wiv her and as long as this old place is safe, she don't care," he was quickly becoming more and more agitated with the situation, pacing up and down as he spoke.

"And what are you going to do about it?" Angry at being stuck without being able to help her girlies was getting to Camilla as she hit Flash with her handbag to emphasise her point.

Rubbing his shoulder, Flash glared half-heartedly at the woman before shrugging, "Sort the bugger out myself I suppose."

An approving grin lit up her face, "In that case I feel sorry for him."

* * *

"Jazz! Phone, it's Flash!" Taylor yelled over the babbling first years.

Picking her way through the masses, Jazz took the offered cell phone, "Sup Flash, what's happening in there?"

"A lot and none of it good," was his short reply, "Did you ever tell Kell that we work together and what my family does outside of the school?"

Jazz sighed irritably into the phone, "No, you know I didn't because you expressly said that she couldn't find out."

"Yeah... I was sort of hoping you'd ignored me, I'm going to have to tell her," Flash didn't sound overly please about this fact.

"Oh?" She didn't bother to hide the surprise which coloured her voice, Flash had been very adamant that Kelly didn't find out, "What s brought this on?"

Flash gave a rather exasperated sigh, "Because the only way I can think of stopping her doing something which'll save the school but land her in no end of trouble is if she knows there are people coming who can fix this."

"Kelly's a big girl, Flash; you ever pause to think she can handle this?"Jazz sounded more than slightly amused.

"Yeah well, it's a moot point; I think I'd even be worried about you if you had a clearly unstable man out with a personal revenge complex."

For a few seconds, only the soft hiss could be heard until Jazz spoke up, "I'll get in touch with your Father. Find out what's taking the back up so long."


End file.
